Aegis
by Macx
Summary: They had been up against countless opponents, had been shot at, thrown off cliffs, zapped, beaten and more. They had come out of their battles bruised and battered, but alive. This time something is coming for Steel, something that can and does seriously hurt both of them. It pushes both Max and his partner to their limit. Actually, way, way past and into new, uncharted territory.
1. Chapter 1

As usual, my brain got hit hard by something I would never expect. I zapped through Amazon and stumbled over the Max Steel live action movie, though I didn't watch it. I just looked for the 2013 animated series, because I remembered the old one (from 2000), and things started to happen in my brain as I watched the episodes I could find. Again and again, mostly the Max and Steel scenes to get their voices and interaction. I hope I do them justice.

So this is the result of obsessive writing in a small fandom. None of the movies after season 2 were taken into consideration. I also claim artistic freedom (aka the Alternate Universe) for this because… reasons. I just wanted to get this out of my head.

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Definition Aegis:  
1\. a shield  
2\. the power to protect, support or control something

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I know I have readers who aren't familiar with new fandoms I regularly end up in (waves), but read my stuff anyway (love you for that!), so if you want to look this one up, search for the 2013 Max Steel, not the 2000.

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Max Steel had no idea what had hit him, only that it had. Repeatedly. It had come out of nowhere, without warning or even a taunt, and all hell had broken loose.

And it had been incredibly strong, rattling more than a few bones. Strong enough to knock him around in his Base Mode, the protective suit of armor. Worse than any kind of confrontation he had been in before.

He and Steel had had no time to even catch more than a glimpse of the attacker, some freakily clad weirdo who could fly, looked like a bad mix of Metal meets Hip Hop meets Salvador Dali, with some Disco sprinkled in for good measure. As strange and alien as the attacker had been, he had packed a punch that would have floored an elementor in one strike.

But Max Steel had been the target, not an elementor or even Dredd. Him. The good guy. And he had no idea what he had done to become a target. Damn!

He groaned as a spike of hot pain radiated from the general direction of his left side and abdomen, quickly spreading to encompass all of him, washing over his mind like a tidal wave. Max tried to curled up, but that only hurt even more and he cried out.

"Max? Max! Max, listen to me…"

That voice. He knew it. Even through the pain.

"Steel," he managed, though it hardly sounded like a word. The pain was threatening to split his skull.

"Oh, thank every deity you believe in," Steel replied. "You're alive."

"You'd know if I weren't," he replied.

"Uhm, yeah, I probably would."

Max almost laughed. Part of him realized that Steel was talking through their bond, which was a little unusual. The Ultralink normally reserved that for battles or when they were undercover, so to speak; when Max was his normal non-hero self, surrounded by his friends or outsiders.

He also couldn't see a lot. He wasn't blind, but there also wasn't a lot of light. The helmet gave conflicting data, almost as if the visor was on the frizz, and wasn't that an encouraging thought? He was on his back, inside a mostly dark room, and he was in pain. That about summed it all up.

"So I'm alive," he stated.

"Uh-huh. Not that it's not good, but you've been in better shape."

"I feel like crap."

"Probably look like it, too," was the not so helpful addition.

It sounded forced, Max thought. Steel was as sassy and mouthy as they came. He had comebacks that could burn, but right now things felt… off.

"Steel?"

Silence.

"Steel, what's happened?"

"I… I'm not sure."

"You're not sure?" Max echoed, eyes closing, feeling himself drift a little.

"Max!"

He groaned and his hands twitched weakly, as if to swipe away the annoying noise.

"Max, don't you dare go to sleep!" Steel snapped.

"Not sleeping," he groused.

"You were going to."

"Nope."

Steel sighed.

"So, what happened?" Max repeated, staring at the semi-darkness again.

He wished he could see his Ultralink partner. Normally Steel would separate from him when they weren't fighting. He would hover beside him, fly around, and at a rare few times that he could count off on one hand leave him alone for a few hours until they had to link again.

Now… nothing.

"You don't remember?" Steel now asked.

"I remember something attacking."

"That would be right."

"And then?"

"We fought back, remember?"

He did. In pieces. "Not very well, if this is the result."

Steel hummed. "That thing was strong. And relentless. And it had advanced tech."

"Strong enough to beat a guy with an Ultralink?"

Another hum.

Not many had managed to thoroughly kick his ass in the past. Dredd, sure. The elementors. Some of the other bad guys. Yeah. He had received his share of bruises. He had been buried under rock, trapped in force fields, showered in poisonous substances, chased by bounty hunters, thrown off cliffs and out of flying or moving vehicles, set on fire, nearly drowned… well, the list was long. Oh, not to mention more than once sucked dry of T.U.R.B.O. energy by Dredd.

But with the help of the suit he had come out of those encounters nearly unscathed. Teeth rattled, a little on the bruised side, but never anything that had required a doctor.

Not that a regular medical doctor could help with anything. Almost all of him was covered by the SteelSuit and taking it off was impossible for various reasons. For one, Steel controlled the millions of hexagonal elements that made up the suit. And well, it was his protection and a safeguard.

"Steel?" he probed into the prolonged silence.

"Promise not to panic?"

Okay, so it was really bad.

"Promise."

"We are buried underneath a mountain, inside what looks like an old storage facility, and you're pinned down by a... uhm… spear?"

Max blinked, his probably concussed brain trying to make sense of the words.

Concussion.

That was new, too.

After everything that had happened to him in the past years, with what the Bad Guys ™ did to him, a concussion was pretty much the last he had expected. He could take a lot. A whole lot. Whatever had been dished out, he had come back from it with hardly a bruise.

Now: concussion.

Huh.

"Mountain?" he echoed, sounding dumb even to himself.

Yes, definitely a concussion then.

"Yes, keep up, kid," Steel snapped. "Mr. No Laughs McCrazypants, the guy in the dorky, color-clashing outfit, kicked your ass and collapsed the mountain over us. Looks like someone used it many, many, many years ago as a storage area, but not anymore. There're more cobwebs than even I can count. Lucky for us the cavern was here, even if it lacks in décor and style."

Max ignored the words, his mind too busy with something else. "Spear?"

Here he went, blurting single words again.

Silence.

"Steel?"

Nothing.

"Steel!"

"You know how I told you that the suit can only take a limited beating?" his partner finally said, each word measured.

"Yeah," Max breathed. "I do." His head was starting to ache, and he probably had bigger problems than a headache, but right now it was growing from bothersome to too painful to ignore.

"Well…"

"Lemme guess. We reached that limit?"

Steel was silent for a moment. Uncharacteristically silent.

"Steel?"

"We… stretched that limit and went a little past it," the Ultralink finally answered slowly, almost carefully.

Max fought down a wave of nausea, which had nothing to do with the words. "Right," he mumbled, wishing for a painkiller. "Past that. How little is little?"

"Uh… way, way past a little? Dangerously close to… not actually healthy?" was the answer. More of a question than a statement, really. "For both of us? Very unhealthy, actually."

Unhealthy for an Ultralink was worse than bad. It was worse than worst. Steel had been threatened with shut-downs before, sure, and he had been hurt and tortured, but Ultralinks were resilient and bounced back quickly.

"Great," he mumbled, wondering what had happened.

His head started to hurt like blazes now and he couldn't keep his line of thought. Something else popped up. Something very important and something Steel kept apparently trying to distract him from.

"So, back to the spear?"

It got him a whirring sigh.

"I think that was meant for me? Pry me out of you? Sever the link? If so, it misfired completely. It kinda went through the suit…" Steel trailed off.

"Through…" He stopped, his whole body locking up as the words sank in. The pain intensified, now also radiating from his lower body, in his side, and no longer just in his head. "Through the suit?!"

Max finally managed to lift his hand and felt for where the pain was not so dully pulsing from his abdomen. Left side. Just above the hip bone.

He encountered… something.

Sticking out of him.

Sticking…

He felt his lungs constrict, muscles clench, and a new pain shot through his side, making him groan; actually it was more of a scream. Reflex had him grapple at the object embedded in his body, curling slightly to the left, and the pain flared with relentless sharpness, turning into agony.

"Max! No, don't! Max, relax! It's okay. It's okay!" Steel begged.

The pain started to subside as if a blanket had been thrown over it. It was still there, a background noise, but Max felt his mind clear.

"It's not okay," he whispered, sounding panicky, more than a little shell-shocked. Nausea rose inside of him and he swallowed several times. "There is something sticking out of me! That's not okay, Steel! Where is that okay?!"

"Technically it's stuck in the ground," was the rather unhelpful answer. "With you."

"Steel!"

Another hum. It was more calming than Max would ever confess to, but since he and Steel were connected, the Ultralink probably knew it. They hadn't been apart for a longer stretch of time in over two years. Thoughts sometimes flowed between them when they were Max Steel. Max had long since given up on being embarrassed.

"How could this… spear… breach the suit?" he now asked, rallying to make his mind work. "What kind of weapon is it?"

"I'm… not sure. It did go all the way through. Through you. And it did major damage."

Max tried not to think of the gory details, of some kind of alien metal rod pinning him to the ground like a bug. "I can feel that."

"To us," Steel added softly.

Max felt suddenly cold. Us. Him and Steel. Steel…

"How bad?" he asked. "How bad, Steel?" Max repeated when there was no answer.

"Bad," was the quiet answer, almost hesitant, as if Steel had tried to find a way to make it less bad.

"Bad," Max echoed. "Steel, talk to me!"

"The suit's structure is compromised in a way I never would have expected or have ever seen. The weapon emitted some kind of energy blast as it tore into us and I can't…" He stopped and sighed. "I can't repair it. There is no way to get a signal through all this rock either. I get no readings at all. Something in the stone is blocking us. Must be the metal. The suit's a bust as long as you're… stuck."

"So we need to get the weapon out."

"No."

"No?"

"No," Steel repeated.

"You could pull it out. Or at least cut it to pieces so I can move," Max told him. "Right?"

"Wrong. I can't. It damaged the suit, Max. The suit is like an extension of me, fused to you, making us... one. This weapon has to be insanely powerful to do that! I never knew anything could get through the suit. It's designed to absorb everything!"

"Except… that…?"

A sigh. "Whatever 'that' is. I'd say Ven-Ghan might have such a weapon, but he wasn't out to kill you. Or me. Or us. And he's on our side now. This… was meant to kill." Steel shivered a little. "Kill the host and sever the link, then probably annihilate me. Whoever made that thing created it with silicon-based, parasitic life forms in mind; life forms attached to hosts."

"Then get help, Steel."

"Can't."

Max felt his frustration rise. "Why not?! There are probably cracks in the stone wide enough to fit you. I'm not in any danger of overloading right now either."

"I can't!"

"Why?!"

"Because if I leave you'll die, Maxwell McGrath!" Steel snapped furiously. "The suit is structurally compromised. That means you are compromised! The suit is you, you idiot! It's not just the energy overload and the eight hour limit! That's the least of our problems. I could get us help with time to spare, but I can't! I'm keeping you together! If I detach, you…"

"… die?" Max said softly.

"Yes," was the equally soft reply.

Because Steel was keeping them stable. Not just the energy Max was generating twenty-four-seven, no. He was keeping the suit stable and Max from dying. As long as the suit existed, he was not bleeding to death or dying of whatever else a human body wasn't strong enough to withstand. The suit didn't make him indestructible, but it made him hard to take down.

Max was quiet, then finally closed his eyes and sank into the connection they shared, doing something he had only done a few times in the past. The first time had been accidental. He had ended up in Steel's mind-space. Well, they had shared mind-space or something like it.

Afterwards, no one had talked about it.

But with the growing understanding of their partnership, with the months turning into years, they had done it a few more times.

It was… new. It was… strange. It was so very much them.

Actually, Max had sought out quiet, remote places to practice. His uncle had drilled it into him, how important it was to train, and with the experience came the realization that brute force wasn't all that needed to be finessed and trained. Their connection needed that, too.

So they had experimented, away from prying eyes, telling no one. Max had been adamant about it. Steel hadn't been too thrilled to let his willing host slide so far away from reality, into the hub where both minds met, but he had come to understand how important it was.

Steel had once explained to him that the moment Ultralinks acquired a host, the mind was absorbed and the Ultralink controlled everything. That's how the parasites worked. And the longer that connection lasted, the greater the chance that the absorbed mind would be lost forever, even after separation.

For Max and him it was different, though. Steel had never absorbed his mind and when they met in the deep-link, it was as equals. The hub, the mind-plane of existence that was real and then again not, was a place where they could see and touch the other as if they were still on the outside. Their forms didn't change, nor did their abilities. It was a cyber render. It was reality inside his head. It was there, but not physical. Max had found he could change the render, shape it to what he wanted it to look like. He had tried various versions and had finally settled on his home.

Physically he hadn't moved, but his mind was where no one else could follow.

Physically they were, trapped underneath tons of rock, inside a mountain, with metal and whatnot blocking signals and inhibiting scans.

Screwed. They were totally screwed.

Max was about to draw a deep breath, then thought better of it. He had no clue how much his body might translate. He just opened his eyes, the surreal world of the mind-space everywhere. It fell into place around him, shifting into the well-known and familiar surroundings of his room at home. Steel was close, hovering as he always did.

"So, to sum up," he spoke out loud, even if he had no real voice in here, "I've got an alien weapon stuck inside me, which is also pinning me to the floor, and it should have been impossible to happen because nothing can penetrate the SteelSuit. You're keeping me from bleeding out, though we got no idea if I can actually bleed in the suit 'cause I haven't taken it off since we first met. Which, come to think of it, gross…"

Steel hummed in agreement. The whole matter of having to wear the suit had come up a few times, but it was now so much part of him, Max rarely ever gave it much of a thought. It didn't feel like an armor at all, more like his own body, and while it had been weird for a while, it was no more. Two years and counting, and it felt normal. Just like having Steel in his head, uplinking to him, joining with him, was totally normal.

"Anything we can do?" Max wanted to know.

"Nothing I can think of right now. I can't leave you, Max," Steel told him softly. He crossed his arms in a very human way of hugging his chest. "You'd die."

Looking at the mind-image of his Ultralink partner, Max took in the frightened expression. Yes, Steel was frightened. Out of his mind frightened.

"We are literally stuck, huh?" he said calmly.

Steel moved back and forth as if he was pacing. "Yeah. Unless someone removes that metal rod in your body… And I think that's a horrendously bad idea to begin with."

"You think I'd start leaking T.U.R.B.O. energy?"

"Uh, no? It's not like it's flowing in your veins and you can bleed out," Steel snarked. "It's generated by your cells, which are a crazy hybrid mix, and you got the short straw in that regard. But all things considered, you can't bleed T.U.R.B.O. energy."

"But I'd bleed," Max summed it up.

"Maybe. There are too many unknown variables. I'm just guessing here." He thoughtfully tapped a pointy end against the location of where his voice unit display sat. "And I'm guessing you wouldn't bleed the red stuff. The suit would probably seal the entry and exit points. You'd just perish due to shock, trauma and the instability of the whole outfit."

"Way to cheer me up, buddy," Max muttered. "Also not an option. Anything we can do? Anything at all?"

"Hope Forge starts missing us?"

Max chuckled. "Yeah. And get mad enough to send out the hounds. But how would he know where to look?"

"Well, we did leave quite a trail when Bozo Numbskull attacked and chased us," Steel said thoughtfully. "Wide enough for even the commander to follow it."

Despite the attempt at humor, Max felt something cold wash down his spine. The attacker!

Steel floated closer, their minds so meshed together, Max's thoughts spilled over. As much as they had worked on privacy, emotional spikes leaked. He looked as worried as Max felt, and as scared. Their hunter might still be out there, looking, searching, trying to find a trophy of his kill.

"I won't let anyone get you," he promised. "You're my Ultralink, Steel. Ven-Ghan tried. Dredd tried. Extroyer tried. I'm not giving you up! You're mine!"

One of Steel's hands rested on his chest and the overspill was telling Max all he needed. He felt the same, would never lie about it, and he knew he didn't just want Steel with him because it kept him from going nuclear. Steel was his best friend, his partner, was his bodyguard and his safety net, the one being in the whole world who was that close to him. No one else could ever get this close. No one else knew him like Steel; not even his Mom.

The wordless thank you was still clear enough for Max.

The stabbing pain in his stomach was momentarily back and he curled in on himself for a second, riding it out. He breathed out a curse, hearing Steel's worried exclamation, felt his touch, but there was nothing he could do.

Then again…

The pain suddenly receded as warmth ensconced him, and Max groaned in relief. He looked up, into the blue iris display.

"You…?"

"It's not much," Steel murmured, hands waving in agitation. "All I can do, actually. Useless. So useless."

Max laughed weakly, the dull pulse of pain heaven compared to before. Parts of him felt weirdly numb, but it was preferable to the other option. "Far from it, buddy. How?"

"We are linked. Deep-linked right now. You know I can control the suit to a degree."

"A big degree."

Steel could actually control him like a puppet without strings. It had taken a while for Max to get over the first time the bio-organic had done that, and trust had come slowly.

Now it got him a shrug. "Yeah. A big degree. As long as you don't fight me, that is."

Another weak chuckle. "I'm no match for you, Steel, and you know it. Ultralinks have full control."

Steel moved back and forth, twisting his hands.

"Or not?" Max hazarded a guess.

"Well, technically yes. I'm a parasite. That's my purpose. You would be the Link Slave."

Max sat on the ground of the rendering of his room, the pain still there in the background, but his full attention was on his Ultralink partner.

"You're not a parasite."

"I feed off your energy, human," was the level reply, the expression in the single eye stern. "Ultralinks assimilate the host. They are parasitic, silicon-based life forms. I'm an Ultralink. That makes me a parasite."

Max shook his head. "You need me, I need you. I'd call this a symbiosis."

Steel huffed. "No one else would call it that. Ultralinks are designed to take over and control the host. That's not symbiosis."

"Well, and then there's you…"

Steel dropped to his eye level, looking into the blue eyes of his host, and Max felt the hope and the need between them.

"I consume what you generate, Max," he stated slowly. "I need that energy to live."

"And I need you so I don't blow up because I got whacky DNA. Win-win. You're not a parasite, Steel," he repeated. "All that time, I never called you that. And I called you a lot," he grinned brightly, "but never that. I don't care what N-Tek thought or still thinks about you. You're my friend, my partner, my symbiont."

"Thank you, Max," came the heartfelt reply. "And you're not a Link Slave. You're my human host. My friend. I don't want to ultralink to anyone else."

Max smiled. "I know. So, back to the topic at hand: you can dampen the pain?"

Steel twisted his hands again, the electronic eye shifting left and right. "Yes?"

He ignored the quizzical note to the confirmation. "Okay. But you can't detach from me for even a minute and take out the spear yourself?"

"No. The moment I disconnect, things could go really, really bad. And knowing us, they probably would, too. Permanently and finally bad."

Max closed his eyes, head sinking to rest on his pulled-up knees. An idea was forming in his head and he knew it was superbly bad and probably the only way they could make it out of there.

Steel made a noise of surprise and protest as he picked up on those thoughts. "No way! No way am I doing that! Get that out of your head! Right now! I don't want to hear any more of it, nor do I want to see it!" He slapped a hand against his head as if to shake those images out of himself.

Max looked up, feeling tired and exhausted. "Any better ideas?"

"Wait for your uncle?"

"He might not find us."

"Forge's like a dog with a bone. He will. And isn't that a nice image. I see him as a bullterrier. Or a hound dog. I'd call him Sprocket." Steel hummed, sounding amused for a moment, tapping his hand thoughtfully against what could be considered a mouth in a human.

"Steel… he might not find us in time. There's someone out there who did this to us, who is either still looking for us or he might be wreaking havoc in Copper Canyon or wherever…"

"You're in no shape to fight anyone!"

Max got up, feeling the pain increase again. It was a reflection from the outside world and a testament to how badly off he was. And just how far Steel could go helping him without taking the last step.

He squared his shoulders. "Could you do it?"

"Max…"

"Deep-linked, could you do it?" Max demanded harshly, eyes narrowed, mouth set in a determined line.

"Yes, but…"

"No but."

"I'm not going to hurt you any more than you already are!" Steel cried.

"It can't get any worse! We're stuck here!"

And if to demonstrate, a hot flash of pain raced through him, made Max cry out. He felt close to blacking out and it was the longest time before he could catch a breath. And he wasn't really breathing in mind-space.

"This is bad," he heard Steel mutter, voice filled with panic. "So bad. So very bad."

Thoughts zipped through the shared mind-space and Max frowned as he caught some of them, clearly originating from Steel's mind.

"I don't regret anything," he said, stopping the Ultralink's muttering.

"What?"

"I said I don't regret a thing, Steel. Nothing of this. Yes, my life took a completely different turn, but it wasn't like I could have done anything to prevent it. I wasn't accidentally exposed to Takion energy through an experiment. I'm half Takion and my human side can't handle it. You showed up before my life ended quite abruptly."

Steel blinked.

"Your offer to ultralink with me kept and keeps me alive," Max added.

"You had no idea what you would get into."

"Yeah, well, no thanks to my uncle. You had no memories, just followed whatever instinct got you to me, and I had to choose between life and death. Easy choice, I think." Max smiled.

Steel floated closer again. "The Takion energy reactivated me. I just went where it was."

"You didn't have to offer."

"I had to. I was hungry. You were so full of T.U.R.B.O. energy, it was like an all-you-can-eat buffet."

He laughed at the image appearing in his mind, accompanied by the need Steel had felt back then. "Yeah, well, lucky for me you came along. And I mean it: I regret nothing. I know we had our differences, still have, but you're my best buddy, Steel. Not just because you keep me from going critical."

The next words were cut off by a new hot wave of agonizing pain and he screwed his eyes shut, trying to ride it out without screaming. A whimper escaped anyway.

Steel made unhappy noises and pushed at the connection, removing Max little by little from the sensory input until it was bearable again.

"We have to do something about this," Max managed through clenched teeth. "I can't wait this out! Whatever this thing is doing, it's even worse than the option we have."

Steel looked desperate, trembling a little.

"I can't stay stuck to the ground forever," Max repeated.

"Well, technically… and probably…"

He closed his eyes and dropped his head against the cyber-rendered wall behind him. "Steel…"

"I am the one maintaining your human body, Max," the bio-organic being told him, sounding almost like one of his old teachers in lecture mode for a moment. "Well, the suit is. And the suit was created by me. It will keep maintaining your physical flesh form indefinitely."

"I have a spear sticking out of me."

"More like stuck through you."

He grimaced.

"And while a normal human would be dying of it, might even be already dead, you are a hybrid, Maxwell. Your father's Takion side is very powerful, as you repeatedly demonstrated in the past by nearly blowing yourself to pieces while I was temporarily not around."

He sighed, annoyed. "I don't want to stay like this until, maybe, some day, someone finds us!"

"Forge isn't a slacker. You don't make Commander of N-Tek because you're just another pretty face. He'll be here."

Max shook his head. "You don't know that. I don't know that. We both don't know if staying speared like that won't turn into something worse. Oh, and I might just starve or die of thirst."

"Unlikely."

"The SteelSuit?"

"Yep."

"Which might or might not be able to counter the effects of the weapon skewering me?"

Steel was silent, probably checking an algorithm or two. Or whatever.

"We have to do this, partner," Max pushed gently after a long moment of silence between them. "I can't just lay here and wait. The alien freak who did this in the first place might even come back and finish what he started."

"You're asking me to…" Steel stopped, agitated and zipping left and right. "No, no, no! I can't do that, Max! I just can't!"

"Steel…."

"You want me to use you! To inflict even more pain! To remote control your actions and just… override your body! I won't do it!"

"Yes, you will, because that's what you can do!" Max snapped. "It's the only way! You control he host! You can take over and be me! You can cut off the pain signals and override my entire body and mind!"

There was a noise that sounded almost like a whine, strained and painful. Steel was battling demons. His own demons.

"I trust you, Steel. Absolutely. You were designed to do this and as your host I know you can."

"It would hurt you so much…"

"No more than it already hurts, buddy."

"Max, please!"

He reached out and carefully cupped his hands around the Ultralink's body, cradling him close. "I trust you. It's the only way. I can't do this without you and I don't want either of us to die like this. I'll go down fighting, not pinned to the ground and doing nothing at all. So trust yourself. You can do this with me. We can do this together."

Steel, in a rare display of physical affection, wrapped his arms around Max's neck, hugging him close. His fear was clear to feel. As was his terror of inflicting pain on his human host, who was already in a bad enough shape.

"We've done it before, buddy."

"Not this way. This will be all the way."

"I trust you," Max repeated. "You won't let me get lost. We… you… can do it."

Steel made a gulping noise and almost reluctantly moved out of the embrace, hovering before his host.

"We can do it," he echoed.

He sounded far from convinced.

This was in his programming, was his purpose, and still he hadn't done anything this atrocious ever before. Steel had only ever had two hosts, both willing and partners, not Link Slaves, and while Max didn't doubt it would be like riding a bike for the Ultralink, he understood the terror it held for his friend.

"Let's do this," he murmured.

tbc...


	2. Chapter 2

They had never deep-linked for this amount of time before.

For any reason.

And especially not because of such a life-threatening situation.

There had been various moments in the past, moments where Max had had to trust his partner, give up control, while Steel acted and spoke for them. The SteelSuit was Steel's creation, his connection to his host, and gave him complete control of Max's physical movements if he wanted to. But he had never forced himself on his host, especially not malevolently. They were partners and they were equals.

Moments had been all Steel had asked for in the past. A brief moment in time, the Ultralink's presence barely there and then gone again.

Never to do something that would be close to torture to Max's human body should he feel something. Max himself didn't really want to ponder the idea of pulling the spear out of his own body, while conscious and completely aware. He didn't think he could do it. This was far from a splinter stuck in a finger or his palm. This was a huge metal lance that had gone all the way through and was firmly lodged in the ground.

So it was up to Steel. Their only chance to survive this mostly intact.

Steel was currently everywhere, but he hadn't asserted complete control yet. He hadn't taken over and he hadn't assimilated the host mind. Actually, he was currently busy shielding Max from the world outside, from the pain, from the malfunctioning suit. Max felt like he was wrapped in cotton wool, cushioned against any kind of impact, and reality was far, far away.

He was aware of the worry and the care, the doubts and self-flagellation from his Ultralink partner, and he reached out, reassuring the symbiont wordlessly. Over and over again.

Steel huddled a little into the connection, seeking protection, as well as reassurance, seeking energy and life. He was hesitating to push Max all the way back, still fighting his very nature to be what he had been created to be.

This could kill the host.

It could erase Max's mind. It could destroy his body.

XxX

 _/"What happens when I die?"_

 _That had been one of the many questions Max had asked of the Ultralink, throughout those days they had spent not fighting or training. When they had just spent time together. Never apart for long. There had been downtime, and recently all the more with Dredd and the threat of the Makino invasion vanquished._

 _"Will you go into stasis again?"_

 _Looking into the electronic eye, Max could read a lot more than anyone else in that expression. Yes, Steel had expressions. Lots of them. Not just symbols flashing over the visible screen, not just a change of the optical device. It was so much more than what anyone could see on the outside. Two years into this partnership and Maxwell McGrath had a pretty deep and very good understanding of the Ultralink he shared his life with. Many, many personal hours of his life._

 _"Probably."_

 _"What's probably?"_

 _"A likelihood of an event," was the snippy reply._

 _He scowled at the alien lifeform._

 _Steel crossed his arms and scowled back._

 _Max could play that game and was as much a pro at it as was Steel. So he waited. Until Steel relented with an almost put-upon sigh._

 _"I mean that I don't know, Maxwell," as the annoyed answer._

 _"You went dormant when you were separated from Dad. He was… gone. Everyone thought he was dead and the link had been severed."_

 _"Your father and I shared… something different."_

 _Max raised an eyebrow._

 _"It was a bond of necessity."_

 _"Like us," he remarked dryly._

 _"Yeah," Steel murmured._

 _"So… no difference."_

 _The Ultralink shrugged. "For me it is. Your dad and I… we fought as partners, warriors, but the bond was more surface than anything else. He didn't need me to stabilize a humongous amount of energy his body was generating. He could control it just fine. He just needed a little extra protection and access to the different modes."_

 _"Huh."_

 _"We were, well, we… functioned as a weapon against Makino."_

 _"Still sounds like us."_

 _The annoyance grew into exasperation. "No. No, it's not the same. We're bonded for life."_

 _"Because without you I'd go critical and explode. And without me… you'd go off-line permanently... but you could link with my Dad again. He was your first host and you could go back to him."_

 _Steel hovered silently, then made a noise like blowing out a breath. "No."_

 _Max blinked. "No? What? No? Why no?"_

 _"Because I can't," was the annoyed reply._

 _"Steel, why? You and Dad were linked before. You could link with anyone!"_

 _"Well, anyone who can feed me enough energy to survive. Seems like my partnership with the famous Ja'em Mk'rah backfired," the Ultralink snarked._

 _Max wasn't deterred. "Why couldn't you take my Dad as a new host? You modelled my suit after his own armor. You and he were partners."_

 _"Because I can't, okay?!" was the furious reply. "I'm not as unaffected by all of this as you think. It seems like you have the short end of this deal, but I'm in as much as you are."_

 _"Meaning." Sometimes it was like pulling teeth, but not as bad as with his uncle. Forge Ferrus was a master of evading truths._

 _"Meaning that you are connected to me for the rest of my life," Steel repeated what he had said two years ago._

 _Max silently ran the sentence through his head. Back then he hadn't thought too deeply about it. Today it was making a little more sense._

 _"But your life is running on the energy I'm generating…"_

 _Steel did a good impression of raising an eyebrow. Despite missing eyebrows._

 _"Uh…" Okay, he was going to short-circuit a braincell or two any moment now. "You're not saying I'm going to live a long as you, right? I mean, okay, sure, I know I'll blow myself up without you controlling all that energy, but…"_

 _Steel bobbed a little._

 _"Really?!"_

 _"I think so, yeah. It's not like I can draw from any kind of experience. Hasn't happened to me or anyone else I know. And it's not like I talk to other Ultralinks. There are no support groups and aside from Torbolt, I know of no other Ultralink who broke away from Makino. Well, we could form a group," Steel kept on rambling. "Reformed Ultralinks Anonymous. RUA. Sounds like a battle cry. RUA!"_

 _"But why only me?"_

 _Steel blinked, sideswiped by the question as it interrupted his flow. "I don't know, but it is you, Maxwell McGrath! I couldn't switch if my life depended on it, okay?" Steel's agitation was clear to feel. "We're linked for life! Our lives. You're my host and you'll always be my host."_

 _Max's head was spinning. The jealousy he had felt surging through him when his Dad and Steel had reconnected and talked about the past was suddenly far, far away._

 _Yes. Yes, he confessed to having been jealous, because Steel was his best friend, his buddy, the one he had shared everything with so far, and suddenly his father came back from the dead. Steel's first host and partner. Max could be honest with himself: he had feared losing Steel. Not as a siphon for his energy, but as a battle partner. As a friend. He would just be a means to help the younger McGrath survive until a different solution could be found, but Jim would be Ja'em Mk'rah, hero of the universe, again, with Steel as his shield._

 _That hadn't happened._

 _And now Steel had dropped that bomb on him._

 _They were connected for life and Steel wouldn't be able to switch to another host should something happen to Max._

 _Aw, crud!_

 _And didn't that sound like his uncle's voice in his head? He almost laughed._

 _"Does anyone at N-Tek know? Uncle Ferrus? Berto? Mom?"_

 _"No one."_

 _Max had to sit down as he felt the world tilt a little more. "This is insane!"_

 _"Tell me about it."_

 _"You can't… with me…"_

 _"Why not?" Steel asked curiously. "I don't mind. Not with you. I like you."_

 _He laughed, sounding a little forced, breathless. "I love you, too, buddy. You're my best friend. But you're an Ultralink! You should be able to disconnect and find a new host!"_

 _"I'm not like the others."_

 _Max looked into the single eye, listened to the seriousness in each word. He knew Steel was different, but now he knew just how far that went._

 _"Did you know?"_

 _"You mean when I offered to help you to not blow yourself to pieces way back when? Nope. Didn't figure that one out until recently."_

 _He wanted to talk about this with someone, but part of him was too scared out of his mind to mention this… insanity. He was an endless generator of T.U.R.B.O. energy. Steel was keeping him from blowing himself and everyone in the vicinity to pieces, helped him control that energy, channel it into various forms, and he lived off it. As long as Max was feeding him, Steel would live. An endless circle._

 _And total insanity!/_

XxX

"Steel?" he prompted softly, pulling himself out of his thoughts.

It was time. They couldn't sit this one out. Max had never been good at waiting and this wasn't just some boring stake-out.

There was a pronounced shudder.

"We have to do this, Steel. We have to. I know you're scared. So am I."

"Not scared," Steel whispered.

Max smiled a little at the emotions he felt. "Terrified?"

"That about sums it up."

"This is natural for you, buddy."

"Uh, no? Because my Ultralink pals don't let the host mind survive? Because they absorb and assimilate? Because they erase memories with no regard to the host mind? I'm not them!"

"No, you're not," Max calmed him. "You're my symbiont. You can do this. I think you're the only one who could."

"Still terrified. Down to my very bones. If I had any. Which I don't."

There was no missing the anxiousness. Because he would have to go past the surface and into the depths. He would have to confront the very active, very strong and resilient mind of Maxwell McGrath – and hope it would submit. Even if Max's instincts reared up for a moment, opposed to the invasion, he would have to be careful not to hurt what he encountered.

Tricky. Difficult. Minuscule surgery without cutting the mind.

"So am I," Max said softly. "I'm scared. Really, really scared. And then some. But the longer we wait…"

Steel groaned. Max felt his presence move, felt him everywhere, but so far the Ultralink hadn't done anything more than to gently separate Max's mind from the pain his body felt. Like he had drawn up a fluffy shield, cushioning every impact, absorbing signals, and wrapping his host in layers and layers of protective warmth.

Max was under no illusion that it would stay this comfy. He was also under no illusion that other Ultralinks would have acted this way.

This was Steel. His friend. His partner.

"I'm… sorry…" Steel finally managed. "I know you trust me, and I'm… I might not live up to that trust. I'm so, so sorry…"

"Nothing to apologize for."

"I can think of a million things. Most about to happen soon." There was a shaky exhalation of breath, even if there was no need to breathe at all. "Here goes," the Ultralink whispered, voice shaky and small.

And then he was everywhere. Max felt a notion of panic as he was cut off from everything, from his body, from every sensation, sight and sound and touch, as he became nothing but a still self-aware presence within a vast mind that had been his own and was no longer.

This wasn't like when Steel puppeteered him, moved human muscles in a human body, leaving his mind his own.

This was way different.

And it made him want to scream.

Sight switched back on, having him wince.

Sound had him gasp.

He was a back-seat rider, could see and hear, but he could no longer interfere. And that was only courtesy of Steel's programming, of being partners and not enemies. Ultralinks never gave the host a chance.

Still, where there had been points of contact between him and Steel, nothing had remained.

Everything was gone, that gentle hum of his Ultralink's steady presence, and their bond was like a dead husk of what it had been.

The next thoughts were not his own. They were infused into him like liquid fire, taking up his thinking, his action, and he went with them. They did things, they acted for him, and he was just a watcher.

The cry that escaped Max's insubstantial lips was involuntary, filled with a surge of soul-deep panic and terror or losing all of himself, of winking out of existence, even though he knew it had been his idea, his plan, and that Steel was his friend. His symbiont, not a parasite.

It ran like a chant through his mind, feverish and strong, keeping him sane in this new world where nothing was his own. Steel was his friend. Steel was his partner. Steel was his symbiont.

Not a parasite.

Not evil.

Like from a distance, away from the agonizing pain, he witnessed how his body moved, how his own hands grabbed the lance-like weapon and tore it out like it was nothing but a tooth pick.

There was no pain.

Max knew it should be agony, he should be screaming, but there was nothing. It was like watching a movie.

Blood dripped from the smooth metal that had been embedded in him, but none spilled out of the entry or exit wound. The suit smoothly sealed the gaping injury, energy crackling over the newly-formed black skin. It took care to heal the body as much as was possible for now, which meant to stop if leaking bodily fluids and deal with the deeper damage later.

And then energy enveloped him, shaped his form anew as Steel chose the appropriate mode to attempt an escape. Weaponizing him to the maximum effect, to deal with the situation at hand.

XxXxXxXxXx

Steel dug deep. Very deep. Using all Max had to offer and then found even more. His host could generate a tremendous amount of energy. It was raw, uncontrolled, very much unlike how his father's energy had felt. That had been just a battery. Max was… a roaring vortex, wild, unrestrained, and with such incredible potential. There had been several times in the past when he had nearly gone past the critical stage, and Steel had stopped the reaction just in time.

Now he was pushing the human into doing what they usually worked to contain. He needed the power to get them out of the mountain, through tons upon tons of rock and metal.

And he did it without his partner, without a second opinion or a quip. He no longer felt Max's presence, which was a disconcerting feeling all on its own, but to know that the human was still there, conscious, simply trapped, pulled at him. It was paining him to do what his kind had been created to do.

Not evil, Steel told himself desperately. No, no, no! Not evil!

Max wasn't assimilated. He was still there, just not in control, and the deep-link wasn't going to erase his mind.

A whimper escaped him as he effortlessly followed his programming, the body under his control no weaker than before. The injury was bothersome, like an achy subroutine that would need to be dealt with later.

But nothing about this was just a subroutine.

It was a serious wound and an even more serious situation mentally for both of them.

The mountain stood no chance against the weapon that was Max Steel. A massive amount of energy exploded from the slim form and Steel's momentary joy was short-lived as he felt the sudden drop.

He had drained the human hybrid to the last drop of energy. Max would never really run out of it, but his already weakened body could barely take any more of a beating.

Steel groaned, aware that if he took the final step and absorbed, he would be able to shape the host into whatever he wanted to counter those effects, and it was an alluring option.

Energy pulsed weakly, the cells regenerating as quickly as they could, and the Ultralink greedily grabbed for it, then stepped back with a whine.

"No. No, no, no! Not a monster!" he whispered fervently. "Not a parasite."

Inside the vast mind-space where he was completely alone, Steel turned and looked for the anchor line he had left to Max's very soul. It was invisible to everyone but him, it was the only safety, and it was the bread crumbs he followed.

"Max!"

There was no answer, just a pulse from the nothingness.

tbc...


	3. Chapter 3

He felt disoriented. He couldn't move and he couldn't scream, only exist, motionless, as if paralyzed, waiting for… what?

Thoughts slipped away as he felt himself slide.

His mind reached for the other presence he knew had to be with him. But all he encountered was emptiness. Frightening, all-encompassing emptiness.

What was happening to him?

Why was he alone?

Who… who was he? Why couldn't he remember… his name?

Darkness edged toward him and he fought it.

Panic set in, was swallowed and intensified, and he was screaming. He knew he was screaming, even if he didn't hear a single sound.

It was only him, falling into the abyss, without a name, without a memory, without…

Still he fought.

He knew he had to fight, to not give in.

He knew there was someone, that he had someone else, that he needed to find that one presence…

He could do this. He was strong enough! He was… he was… The name still wasn't there, nor a memory. He simply felt that he was stronger than that.

Don't give in. Don't give up. Fight!

But he was falling, within his own mind, scrabbling not to lose himself in the vortex looming everywhere.

"No!"

The cry startled him and he was suddenly caught by a familiar presence, dragged away from the nothingness he would become if he gave in. His symbiont – Steel! His name was Steel! He remembered! Steel! – was everywhere, holding him together, keeping his thoughts from sloshing off into nothingness.

Keeping Max McGrath from disintegrating within the assimilated mind-space, within the Ultralink's powerful presence.

Steel whispered an apology over and over as he enveloped his host and held him. They had no physical form anymore, were simply two minds, two souls, pure energy.

Max shuddered, hearing himself almost sob with relief, and Steel hummed gently, curled tightly around him, just being there.

And he remembered again. Not just his name, but everything. He was cut off from the real world, the pain, the physical exhaustion, but he remembered everything else. His life. Who he was. Steel.

"… we did it…"

The reconnection came like a warm rain, washing away the fear and desperation, the terror of being alone. The nothingness rapidly changed into the cyber-render of his room, the familiar surroundings balm to his feverish mind, smoothing the feeling of touching serrated edges and ground glass. Max didn't think as he grabbed the mind-rendering of Steel and hugged him to his chest with a sob of relief.

Steel spluttered, then grew silent, pressing closer.

Curled up in the mind-space, holding his Ultralink partner close, Max didn't even try to contain the tsunami of emotions. He was too battered, too exhausted, to uphold a façade of indifference or bravery. There was no verbal reply, but a wave of something touched him and he smiled as he deciphered the meaning.

The bond was alive again. All connections were there, strong and healthy, and he shuddered as the last shadows washed away.

Crap, that had been bad. And intense.

"Sorry," he heard Steel whisper. Again and again. "Sorry, sorry, sorry. I'm so sorry, Max."

"No. Don't," he mumbled. "I asked you to. I just didn't think it would be this bad. This cold… and dark…"

"It hurt."

"No."

"It did. Emotionally."

He winced. "Okay, yeah, there."

Steel's whole form seemed to shiver. "Sorry."

Max gave a watery laugh. "Like I said, it was my idea. I made you do it. Was worse than I could ever have imagined," he said openly.

"You could still think," was the hesitant reply. "Feel."

Max didn't need the words to understand the meaning. Link Slaves didn't feel, didn't think. They were nothing; a body with no active mind. The Ultralink was the mind and used the body, pushing the mind away. It helped the host overcome any possible repercussions from such a parasitic possession – if the host was a sentient being and survived the experience.

His uncle had no memories of his own possession, not even lingering alien emotions or nightmares. Kirby and Sydney had equally been ultralinked by force and remembered nothing at all.

If this was what happened to the mind, Max was glad they didn't. Being cut off from everything, that dark abyss looming ever closer, trapped in a nightmare that was one's own mind… no, he wished that on no one.

Steel hadn't done a complete wipe, had left his aware, though not truly conscious, and his human hybrid mind had fought back. He would probably have lost in the end, because Ultralinks weren't that easily overcome, not even by someone who had been partnered with one for such a long time.

"We're not like that," he mumbled, pressing his forehead against the smooth bio-organic surface of his symbiont. "Never were, never will be."

The warmth increased, held him, caressed him, and the deep-link was unbreakably strong, echoing everywhere.

"Where are we?" Max asked without looking up or opening his eyes.

"Well, we are out of the one mountain…"

"But…?" he prompted.

"We hit another one?"

Max was drawn between disbelief and amusement. With some resignation mixed in. "What?"

"I kinda misjudged just how much energy you can generate, even in that state, and blew us clear across the desert into the next mountain side. We broke through a thin crust and ended up in a hollow. Oops?"

That explained the bruised feeling, but then again, he had been in a very bad shape already. Max tried to move and found he couldn't. It was like a heavy weight had settled on him, making it impossible to do more than lift a finger.

"You needed rest."

"I'm in here. I don't feel anything, Steel."

"Your body was depleted of almost all your energy reserves and while you usually rebuild that in a crazy short amount of time, you aren't in the best of shapes to begin with. Energy alone isn't it. The injury is still there and it weakens you." Steel sighed. "We are running so low, it's no longer funny."

"You're still keeping me from everything," Max stated, ignoring the attempted quip.

"You'd be a in a hell of a lot of pain otherwise."

"Yeah, well, not looking forward to that. So you still can't separate and go for help?"

"No."

"Crap." After a moment he sighed. "Okay, then we, well, you need to walk."

"Max…"

"Better ideas are welcome."

But Steel had none. It was the only way and he knew it, though he refused to acknowledge the fact. He would have to continue to deep-link, keep Max completely away from all sensory input. Steel had to be what he had been created to be.

The Ultralink groaned softly and Max hugged him tightly again.

"We can do this," he repeated what he had said before, with the same conviction in his voice. "You can do this."

"I don't want to keep you… submissive," the symbiont whispered. "It's… not us."

"I know. And I'm in a much better place than any other host, right?"

"Yes," was the reluctant answer.

"I can be the backseat driver."

"And nag?" Steel tried for humor.

"I'll do my very best," Max replied in kind.

The Ultralink detached himself from his human host, breaking the hug, and their eyes met. Max gave him a confident smile, the conviction that they could really do this running strongly through the link. A determined expression answered him.

XxXx

Getting to their feet was laborious and Max was glad he felt no pain, though his body shuddered a few times. Steel kept muttering to himself as he moved them forward, one slow step at a time. He was getting surer in his control of his host's body, trying not to inflict too much more damage on the already compromised suit. While the surface of the SteelSuit looked almost unblemished, the damage underneath was extensive and would require extensive downtime.

It still took them an eternity to make it out of the hole in the mountain they had landed in.

Max groaned in relief when he finally stumbled into the dusky light while Steel crowed in delight as he managed to send a distress signal.

Around them there was nothing but red and gray desert, the sun low, clouds darkening as night fell. There was a light breeze, which Max couldn't feel, but he saw a few scraggly bushes move with it.

"Made it!" Steel exclaimed, his relief plain to hear and feel. "I knew we could do it!"

His host chuckled. "Sure you did, buddy. How long were we out of communication with N-Tek?"

"Thirty-seven hours and fifteen minutes."

Another groan. "Uncle Ferrus will kill me. So will my Mom."

"Not to mention your Dad," Steel added.

"He's not home," Max muttered.

Steel was about to say something, but a heavy thud had them whirl around. Well, it was more of a graceless stumble and Max cursed his weakened state.

What he saw had his blood run cold and panic started to spread from where Steel was connected to him.

The hunter.

The guy who had pinned them down and left them to die underneath a mountain he had collapsed on them.

The hunter was back.

Steel gave a pained sounding whine. Thoughts raced through their shared link, originating from the symbiont, as he was drawn between severing the deep-link – as if the unknown alien could see it – and keeping Max pain-free and safe. It was instinctive to do both, an unequal fight between Steel's deeply emotional connection to his host, and his basic programming.

"Link Slave."

Max had had it. He hated the presumption of just about everyone that he was the weaker part of this relationship, that Steel was the bad guy, that he had had no say in what had happened.

He had made a choice.

To live.

To be in this partnership.

Ultralinks rarely ever took sentient life forms as Link Slaves. They much preferred inanimate objects since there was no mind to suppress. Steel had once told him that a sentient mind was always trouble for an Ultralink and such assimilations could never last, unless the mind was willing.

Maxwell McGrath had been willing and while they bickered and fought, he wouldn't give up his partner for anything. The possessive feelings welling up inside of him every time someone suggested otherwise were a first clue to their relationship. And the fact that Steel was his best friend.

He pushed forward, surprising Steel, who floundered to keep the sensory input close to null. For a moment Max was the primary consciousness and no longer the back-seat rider.

"My name is Max Steel," he ground out. "Not Link Slave."

The other tilted his head. His features were hidden behind a fancy helmet and he was completely armored. Max couldn't even tell his skin color or whether he had hair or scales or was something else.

"You are the Ultralink N'Baro Atksteel X377. An Omega class parasitic warrior. The host is a Link Slave. You cannot fool me."

"There's a first time for everything," he quipped.

"You removed the lance and you still function. Intriguing."

Max grit his teeth. "What do you want from me?"

"The Ultralink."

"Not happening. Steel's mine."

The other chuckled dryly. "You have no free will, Link Slave. You belong to it. You are nothing but a tool, a plaything, its weapon. And the moment I remove it, you will be free."

"I've just about had it," Max snarled. "Steel is not my master or whatever you think! He's my partner!"

And currently he was a scared presence within the deep-link, staring at the attacker with dread and apprehension. Ven-Ghan had been a hunter, too, looking to bring him before the Black Star Council. This one… well, he was actively hurting Max to separate him from Steel, even accepting a death. Sure, Ven-Ghan wouldn't have worried about a Link Slave dying in the process either, but he hadn't thrown spears at his bounty, intent to kill.

"Steel's no longer a criminal," Max went on, hands balled into fists. "He's on our side, went up against the Makino, and we won!"

"I do not work for the Council," the hunter replied mildly, drawing his weapon. It looked like a mixture between a gun and a sword "I collect bounties for whoever offers the most. There are interested parties and they want this Ultralink."

"Why?"

"For what reason, I do not know. They want it, they get it for the price they are willing to pay for a trophy. Even if I have to pry the despicable parasite from your chest."

Steel shrank back, eye wide, making a distressed sound. Max snarled softly, hands balled into fists as he took on an attack pose. He was still the primary mind, still very much in control.

"Like I said: not happening."

T.U.R.B.O. energy crackled around him and he clenched his teeth as he forced himself to shift into Strength Mode.

::Max, we don't have the power to uphold any kind of battle mode for long:: Steel told him, sounding worried and frightened in one.

::I know. But he's not going to get you, Steel. Ever!::

The bounty hunter chuckled, sounding way too amused. "I like a good fight. I haven't been in a challenge like that in a long time. "Well, Ultralink, show me what you've got before I pry your carcass out of your Link Slave's dead body."

Steel's presence grew sharper inside the link, angry, outraged, and extremely protective.

"::No, you won't!::" both partners snarled.

And then he attacked.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

When the distress signal came in, Commander in Chief Forge Ferrus was the first one on the ship heading out toward the coordinates. They were barely in the air when Berto told them about an unauthorized visitor detected in the same area, as well as several explosions. Possible weapons fire.

"Oh, uhm, and Ven-Ghan has left the building," Berto added.

"What?!"

"He was here when the second alarm came in, probably looking for Max. Said something about both of them having a date or something. Don't ask me. He took one look, then lit out of here. Well, he teleported. Faster than I could ask him what's going on."

Forge cursed softly.

"There was an anomaly I had just detected before he left. Not sure what it was, but Ven-Ghan sure did," Berto added. "I'm on it, but it'll take time."

"Which we might not have," Forge grumbled. "Okay, we're heading for the coordinates, but even at maximum speed it'll take us too long!"

tbc...


	4. Chapter 4

He went down hard, gasping as he impacted with the ground, jarring just about everything, and the stabbing pain from the wound almost had him black out. Max heard himself cry out, hand pressed against the injury hidden underneath the suit, then a new blast blew him into a rock wall.

Steel was doing his best to keep him functioning, but they had reached their limit. In just about any way. The very fact that the pain signals were making it to Max's mind were testament of Steel's waning control and his reluctance to push his host into the background again. They couldn't use any other T.U.R.B.O. modes, stuck in the Base Mode variant, since Max had run out of juice for the time being. His battered body needed time to recover and that was something they didn't have. He couldn't uphold any mode for enough time to really pack a punch.

"Steel," he whispered.

::Not leaving:: the Ultralink told him, anger and fear mixing together in his voice as he caught Max's intention.

::Please…::

::No! He will kill me whether we stay together or separate! I won't be able to escape him! And eight hours later I'll be toast anyway! I'm not going to leave you over this!::

Max closed his eyes, curled up against the base of the rock wall. He knew he would most likely die the moment Steel disengaged from him, because the suit was still highly unstable. They hadn't really made it better with all the fighting and taking another beating.

But the Ultralink might survive.

::No:: was the soft answer to his thoughts ::I wouldn't. I told you: we're in this together. All the way:: Steel stated with a finality that had Max smile dimly.

::All the way:: he echoed.

The hunter landed in front of him, the masked face impassionate and showing no emotions. With one swift move he grabbed Max's helpless form and slammed him hard against the rock wall behind him. Armored fingers dug into his throat, squeezing.

Max grappled at the arm, trying to dislodge the grip, but it was even worse than when Dredd had pulled the same maneuver. Pain shot from the abused area, the suit too unstable to cushion much anymore.

"Don't fight me. You should be glad to be freed of the parasite, Link Slave."

"The name is Max Steel," he spat out, repeating himself for what felt the millionth time. "And Steel is my symbiont. Without him, I die. Without me, he dies."

The masked eyes stared at him. "Neither is my concern. I'm here for the Ultralink and I will take it. There was no mention of his status. Deactivated is as good as functional."

Max felt a surge of T.U.R.B.O. energy rise inside him; anger turned into rage, feeding on the memory of the agonizing pain racing through every cell of his body as he was pinned down. It was like he was drawing on every last scrap of energy his body was willing to give, and then some. He was reaching past every known limit, into depths he hadn't accessed so far, and the fury at the alien's words had him disregard the pain. Actually, the pain helped. It fed his desperation and his resolution.

::Max… no, don't!:: Steel whispered desperately.

::He wants us? You? Well, I'm dead anyway::

Steel gave a cry of denial as the blue energy licked at them. Max didn't care any longer. He just reached deeper and deeper inside him, to the very core, and let it boil closer to the limit.

One last shot.

Take the guy down with him.

There was a sudden explosion of purplish light as a portal opened and a well-known, armored and armed figure stepped through.

The hunter dropped his prey and Max collapsed in a heap.

::Ven-Ghan?:: Steel blurted. ::What is he doing here?!::

::Maybe they want to share the bounty?:: Max whispered weakly, still crackling with unreleased energy and close to losing control.

His mind felt fuzzy, completely detached from coherent thought, and maybe there was something about him and Ven-Ghan wanting to meet up, but he might also be hallucinating.

::Don't joke about that!:: Steel fretted. ::I mean, we have an agreement, right? He hasn't done anything in a long time and he's our ally. He knows I'm a good guy. He wouldn't team up with this freak!::

A lance of pain had Max groan, the energy snapping around like an angry creature with a life of its own, and the Ultralink carefully disconnected his human from the spiking sensory input again. Some of the connections snapped right back into place, pushing at the symbiont. Pushing him out.

::No, no, no:: Steel whined helplessly. ::Not good. So not good. It shouldn't be like that::

::Steel?::

::I thought I had it. But you're too strong:: It sounded like a scolding and praise in one. ::You're trying to push me out of your mind, Max::

::Sorry?::

::Nothing you can do about it. It's an instinctive reaction to my invasion of your body::

::You're not invading…::

::I'm deeper than normal. I'm doing a lot worse, too. That's why Ultralinks don't use sentient life forms. Too much personality::

::You should know. Mr. Personality::

::Oh, ha-ha, very funny:: Steel snapped, zipping around the cyber-render and trying to keep Max's mind, his very soul, contained, away from his physical form and the true agony that body was in. The pain he was aware of was nothing compared to what he was really going through. ::Nothing but trouble. Rocks and metal are so much better. Or even a toy::

It was so easy to get lost, to get entangled in the otherworldliness of a living mind. Thoughts of highly evolved, intelligent beings were never straight forward and clear; they were a mess of thought processes all happening simultaneously. Thoughts came to life, existed, continued, were cast away, were formed anew, connected to memories or other thoughts... It was dizzying to even touch the very surface of the thought process, let alone go past it and much deeper.

Max caught the gist of that, understanding more than he would have two years ago.

::So Torbolt made the right decision?:: he joked.

::He's an idiot. Who made a wise decision, yes, but still an idiot. You know he could have sought out a new host? But he kept the moldy, flea-bitten teddy bear! A teddy bear! So ridiculous!::

::But he turned his back on Makino:: Max interrupted the words. ::Aside from you, he was the only one brave enough::

::Well, yeah:: Steel stopped for a moment. ::Then again, Ultralinks aren't always known for their brilliant intelligence. Aside from yours truly. They are more like sheep. Some have a glimmer or two of individuality, but most aren't doing a lot of thinking::

The private chatter inside the cyber-render had distracted Max from the very real confrontation going on around him, even if Ven-Ghan wasn't doing more than just stand there, armed, showing his opponent that he wasn't going to roll over and die.

Steel did something and Max gasped, the sensation almost too much. He felt the T.U.R.B.O. energy disperse a little, going down to a level that wasn't that close to an explosion, but it was still high.

It was disconcerting to not feel anything anymore, not even the ground they lay on, but he was more thankful than anything else. Steel huddled close to him in the mind-space, mumbling soft apologies.

"What do you want, hunter?" their attacker finally asked, sounding more curious than hostile.

"There is no bounty on this Ultralink," Ven-Ghan stated calmly.

"There is always an interested party that pays enough. Ultralinks are very sought after as trophies."

Steel cringed.

"The Ultralink is protected by the Black Star Council."

::I am?:: Steel mumbled. ::That's new. Or he's lying. He must be lying. They don't like me. They want me dead::

Max wondered if that was the reason Ven-Ghan had wanted to talk to him. He did recall getting a message, that the hunter was coming to Copper Canyon, and maybe… It was so hard to think!

"As is the host," Ven-Ghan went on. "Any force used against them would result in the termination of all your current contracts, as well as future one, Deg'ne-rok."

It got him a snort. "The Council isn't interested in protecting an Ultralink and a Link Slave."

Max felt another surge of anger, but Steel's touch had him quiet. He wasn't a slave and never had been! The word alone had his blood boil. The adrenaline cleared his head a little and he fought to hold on to coherence.

"You should keep up on recent developments," Ven-Ghan chastised mildly. "N-Tek and Max Steel are Earth's recognized protectors. The host and his symbiont. It is a known fact throughout the Council and the protection act was put into place after the defeat and death of Makino. Even you are not that dense, Deg'ne-rok. You know about the protection act. As you can see the Ultralink isn't using the host as a Link Slave."

"Every assimilation is a Link Slave," Deg'ne-rok stated coolly. "It's all they do. These things know no mercy."

Steel spluttered.

"Max Steel is the successor and heir of Ja'em Mk'rah, the universe's greatest hero. You have no permission by the Council to take this one and you have no private grievance," Ven-Ghan stated matter-of-fact. "Whoever offered you a contract would operate illegally. Any collector hunting this Ultralink would fall under my jurisdiction as their designated protector. That would make you a criminal in the Council's eyes, which would in turn make you my problem. It is my duty and honor to protect Max Steel."

The pleasantly delivered words held an edge that was hard to miss. As well as a warning and a promise.

Deg'ne-rok looked at his prey, his bounty, so close to taking what he had come here for. Then his eyes were on Ven-Ghan again. He finally sheathed his weapon and stepped back.

"Good choice," the other hunter only said.

Steel gave a sigh of relief and Max mirrored it.

"The Council is making a mistake," Deg'ne-rok growled. "You cannot trust an Ultralink."

"I agree. But this one is different," Ven-Ghan replied.

"Fool."

"The fool is the one ignoring the Council's decisions and acts. The fool is the one illegally hunting an Ultralink. You, Deg'ne-rok, will face the Tribunal."

Deg'ne-rok snarled, hands clenching.

"Who paid you?" Ven-Ghan asked.

"Why should I tell you?" the other hunter laughed.

"It might lessen your sentence."

Another snarl. "There will be no sentencing. I won't be tried for hunting the scum of the universe! Malevolent creatures that destroyed whole worlds! Like your own planet, Ven-Ghan! And you stand by and let this thing walk free?!"

"I am the arm of justice of the Black Star Council," Ven-Ghan said levelly. "Their orders shall be followed."

"You are a blind idiot! All of them!"

And then the hunter was gone, taking off in his exosuit and just winking out of existence.

"Good riddance," Steel mumbled, speaking out loud. He still wasn't leaving Max's side on the mind-plane. "Freak."

Ven-Ghan stepped into his line of sight and went down on one knee, tilting his head. "How bad?" he only asked.

"Uh… he pushed some kind of lance through the suit," Steel replied, taking over as the main consciousness and the voice. "I didn't even know something like that existed. The suit is severely compromised. Is this some new anti-Makino weapon or something? If it is, way too late in development. The guy's toast. And I don't want to be toast. By the way, shouldn't you have gone after the freak?"

"Deg'ne-rok will be taken care of."

"Right," Steel grumbled.

"Maxwell?" Ven-Ghan asked.

"Conscious. Currently on the back-seat."

It got them a slow nod. "You deep-linked almost down to an absorption level and he let you take over," the hunter stated. "I am surprised and then again, knowing what I do about you, not so very much. You left him conscious of what is happening around him, but you are in control, Steel."

Steel cringed a little, but Max's steadying presence had him rally on. "Yes. He's there. All of him. I didn't absorb his mind. I just borrowed a little. No assimilation. All's well. He's okay, but that spear hurt him, his physical form."

Ven-Ghan looked at them, then grunted softly. He reached out – and Max suddenly curled away with a gasp, protecting the chest plate area where Steel was located, a sound of denial leaving his lips. Whether it was Steel acting or the human mind taking over again, neither partner could say. The threat of someone trying to pry Steel away had them act.

"I will not hurt your symbiont," Ven-Ghan said calmly. "This is to scan only."

"I… sorry, I know." Max sounded shaky. "Instinct, I guess. Sorry."

"No need to apologize."

Max felt the panic recede, but there were eddies of unease all over. Fingers clenched around the light blue representation of his Ultralink partner, mind racing. Steel's thoughts were one with him, filled with the same terror.

::We can trust him:: the human side of the partnership finally whispered.

The hand fell away hesitantly.

The Kadounnian placed his own hand flat against Max's chest, energy forming where they connected, and Max tensed, expecting pain.

There was nothing. Maybe a little hum reverberating through his chest, but nothing else.

"You cannot separate," Ven-Ghan stated after a moment, as if that fact was common knowledge. "I see. It will make treating the injuries complicated." He removed his hand.

"There is no treating anything," Steel mumbled. "'Cause there's no getting to it."

At least not for an outsider. Ultralinks kept their Link Slaves working as long as possible, repairing damage done to the physical form, and Steel had instinctively done what was necessary already. Unlike his evil brethren he hadn't done anything to keep Max's consciousness under. His host was there, all the way, and very much aware.

Steel would continue keeping the suit stable, keeping Max stable. The stab wound would heal and disappear, no medication or surgery necessary.

Max projected his trust at him, smiling at the mind-rendering.

::We'll be okay:: he told his partner.

Steel shot Ven-Ghan a nervous look. ::Unless he decides I've crossed some new line and wants to take me in again::

::You heard him. The Black Star Council sees you as an ally and us as protectors of Earth now. Everyone knows you didn't kill my dad. You're rehabilitated::

::He might just have told a big, fat lie::

::Ven-Ghan?:: Max asked doubtfully.

::Huh. Yeah. Right. Forgot who I was talking about. Straight and narrow, that's him::

"You need to get back to base," Ven-Ghan interrupted their silent conversation. He might have been aware of it, but he hadn't heard a single word, thanks to the link.

"Uh-huh."

The Kadounnian removed his hand from the chest armor and carefully inspected the area where the lance had breached the suit, and with it Max's body, completely.

"The cohesion of the suit is compromised."

"You don't say," Steel growled sarcastically. "I wouldn't have noticed without you pointing it out!"

"Steel," Max sighed.

"He is protective. Understandably."

Max winced when the long fingers probed the black material. It hurt, even if there was no visible wound. The hexagonal substructure showed as Ven-Ghan pushed against it, blue light whispering over the surface.

"Interesting," Ven-Ghan murmured. He raised his head and looked at the blue visor. "Can you walk or shall we wait until the Commander has arrived?"

"Uncle Ferrus is coming?" he Max squeaked.

"He is on his way and his ETA is in five minutes and thirty-eight seconds."

"He's gonna kill me…"

"I believe he is far too worried to think about murder," the hunter told him. "You also might want to control your Takion energy better."

"I'm working on it!" Steel growled, sounding highly offended. And annoyed.

"Work faster," was the dry reply.

"You know, you are a pain in the diodes, Ven-Ghan!" Steel shot back. "We're not in the best state right now, in case you haven't noticed! I can't just do some magical interface and voila!"

"You are already connected," the Kadounnian pointed out. "And controlling his energy is your job, Ultralink. With or without this voila."

"The name is Steel! And yes, it's part of what I am, his control mechanism, but we have a little problem right now! Not just your lacking knowledge of French words and their meaning."

"I understand. Find a solution, Ultralink."

Steel snarled a curse, but Max reached for his partner, pulling him mentally closer, felt the energy push through his veins, flicker around their mind-space. Steel hummed a little, let Max siphon the overflow through him. It was normally next to no problem to connect to an overloading Max McGrath and do his thing. Right now, though, he was already interfaced with the suit and very, very busy keeping that stable. Having too much energy didn't help.

"You need treatment," Ven-Ghan stated, watching the struggle.

"Yeah, well…" Max made a weak attempt of getting up, but it was half-hearted at best. "There's nothing any doctor can do. Or Berto. Or even my dad, I think."

"I see."

And with that the taller alien grabbed him and teleported.

It was a disconcerting experience, especially since Max wasn't running on all cylinders. He had been teleported before, but that had been with a fully functional SteelSuit. Now he was barely able to string two thoughts together and Steel wasn't any better off. At least he was no longer in danger of overloading. He was just storing a little too much and would have to bleed it off in controlled releases.

::Wow, that was bad:: the bio-mech muttered. ::If I could, I'd throw up::

::Don't tempt me::

::Not in the suit!::

Max shot him a weak grin.

He tried to get a bearing, but aside from walls and light there was hardly any feature he recognized.

"Max!"

Okay, that was Berto.

"Hey, Berto," he replied automatically, which sounded breathy and not like him at all.

"Man! What did you do to yourself? What happened?!"

He wanted to answer the questions, but no sound made it past his lips. He felt numb, lethargic, and everything seemed to be far, far away.

::Max?::

::Really no feeling so good:: he breathed.

Steel strengthened the hold he had on his host.

Max heard Ven-Ghan explain, which mostly passed him by, and then Berto was calling back the N-Tec shuttle which was apparently piloted by his uncle.

"There is nothing you can do for him," Ven-Ghan supplied unhelpfully.

"I know!" Berto grumbled. "The suit's in the way."

::It's keeping you alive:: Steel growled.

Max hugged him close, their minds almost one by now. He simply slipped into the cyber-render, curled up on his bed with Steel pressed against his chest like his favorite stuffed toy.

::And I appreciate it very, very much, buddy::

"I can't even get a single reading off of him right now, except the energy levels, which are either messed up, fluctuating or non-existent," the engineer went on. "Take a pick. This is nuts!"

"The deep-link would block any attempts to scan the host," Ven-Ghan could be heard. "An Ultralink's access to the assimilated host is absolute, and the suit is doing the rest."

"Not helping!"

"I'm not trying to."

"I can see that!"

Max sighed. He let the words pass him by, still curled up around Steel in the mind-rendering, feeling sleepy and still more than a little on the lethargic side.

::How bad?:: he asked of his partner.

::It'll take time:: was the slow answer.

::I figured. How long?::

::We'll be okay::

::Steel…::

::I… can't really say:: was the hesitant reply. ::Just that we need time. You need time. And rest::

Berto was saying something about the alien weapon, about wanting to see and examine it, then there was a loud noise and a well-known voice yelling Max's name.

"Hey, Uncle Ferrus," Max sighed as he dragged himself back to the real world for a moment.

It was an immense effort. Almost impossible to master. Every thought was like molasses dragging him back down. The helmet was still on, a testament to the whole complicated mess of his physical condition and Steel's inability to handle the damage as he normally would.

Looking at the square, unshaven, clearly worried face of his uncle didn't help. Forge Ferrus didn't do worry. At least not openly. Never openly. He was as bad ass as they came. To have him worried meant it was bad.

Really bad.

"How bad is it, kid?"

Well, then again, stupid question…?

"Not as bad as you might think, but bad enough?" he mumbled nevertheless.

Forge groaned, drawing a broad hand over his face. "Your mom's gonna kill me."

"She'll kill me, too, if I'm lucky," Max sighed, mouth running on automatic. His brain was no longer consulted. "I really wanna go to sleep. Bed. Nice bed..."

The last words slurred badly now and Steel moaned unhappily about the way the host body was starting to shut down, despite his best efforts. He boosted Max a little more, but it wouldn't uphold much longer. They really needed a rest.

"Steel?" Forge asked, making it sound like an order.

"Yes, sir?"

"How badly was the integrity of the suit affected?"

"Not as bad as you might think, but bad enough?" the Ultralink echoed Max's words.

Forge rolled his eyes. "Great. You two…" He sighed and hung his head. "Berto?"

Max caught a glimpse of them, saw Berto shrug helplessly.

"There's nothing I can do, Chief. He has to do all the healing himself and there's nothing I can assist with. Steel is in charge of healing the damage."

::Damn right I am:: the Ultralink muttered.

"So I can go to my own place?" Max asked hopefully.

"If you mean your bed here at HQ? Yes," Ferrus said sternly, arms crossed in front of his chest. "Though 'going' isn't what you're gonna do, kid. You can't walk."

"I can!" he protested.

"You can't," Steel added unhelpfully. "Because if I hand everything back over, you'll black out. Fraction of a second, is my bet. The pain would be too much for your human mind to handle. Even your hybrid mind."

Max groaned again. "Not helping!"

"And if I push your body any more, you'll be so many, many miles past your limit, it's not going to be pretty," his symbiont added. ::You might not come back from where I have to push, Max:: "Face it… we're done for."

Max clenched his hands into fists at his inability to do even the most basic of things. Like walk.

Forge gave him a forced jovial look. "So that's the definition of 'not as bad as you might think'? It's even worse than I thought! Well. I guess that means you're going to stay here for now."

Yep, Uncle Ferrus was worried. Maybe a little pissed off, but mostly at anyone but Max and Steel, which was a big plus.

"Not fair," he mumbled, though he realized he was truly at the end of his emotional and physical endurance. A tremor raced through him and he knew his body was probably screaming at him, but Steel was protecting him fiercely against feeling the slightest glitch.

::Thanks:: he murmured, falling into the mind-space again, too exhausted to care any longer.

Woozy, consciousness fading, Max tried to hang on, but it was getting harder and harder. A heavy feeling was spreading through his limbs.

"You're welcome," was the last he heard.

Then there was only nothingness.

tbc...


	5. Chapter 5

Ven-Ghan stood back as the N-Tek agents moved in and he surrendered Max's unconscious, limp form to them. Teleportation had been the quickest and safest way to get the injured human hybrid to those who might help him, even if it had apparently sapped the last strength from his already severely abused form. It had helped deplete him off the overflow of T.U.R.B.O. energy, which was a positive side-effect. Releasing that much Takion energy inside N-Tek was not advisable.

So he had accepted a simultaneous negative effect on Max Steel's health through teleportation. Ven-Ghan had gathered enough experience with humans to know they had a limit that was far below his own, though Maxwell McGrath was different.

For one, he was half Takonian, which added to his resiliency and stamina. And second, the symbiont.

Right now, neither factor helped.

Deg'ne-rok's attack had been vicious, unnecessarily brutal, and it had compromised the symbiont. He had physically injured the host, pushing Steel into a situation the Ultralink had never experienced before.

The physical shut-down should have come so much sooner, but since the host was tough and resilient, they had made it this far.

Ven-Ghan knew Max would have gone even further if he hadn't arrived and aided the team. It had been a briefly terrifying sight to behold, the blue Takion energy licking at the suit, close to an explosion.

"What happened out there?!"

Ven-Ghan turned and looked down at the Commander of N-Tek, who was also a family member of Max's. He recognized and understood the fear and worry reflected in the human's eyes. He felt it himself, even if Forge Ferrus couldn't see it through the helmet. In the past year he had gotten to know not only the warrior Max Steel, but also the two separate entities who made up the formidable protector.

Max McGrath was young for his kind, but he showed great potential and his development was impressive. Ven-Ghan had come to understand humanity a little better through their interactions, through Max's never-ending enthusiasm and willingness to explain, to pull the Kadounnian along and involve him in his daily life. Staying with Max had been an interesting and fascinating time, and he still liked to 'hang out', as he would call it, with him. That Max was interested in Ven-Ghan's history, wanted to train with him, wanted to learn more, was equally fascinating.

Steel was someone Ven-Ghan had to learn to trust, and studying the interaction between host and symbiont he knew the Ultralink was prepared to die for Max if necessary. Steel was very unconventional for his kind, down to being a whole different model, it seemed. No other Ultralink had broken away from Makino, to the Kadounnian's knowledge, though he had heard about Torbolt. Usually those captured by him and other bounty hunters would be reformed, if possible, or destroyed.

Steel wasn't like any of them.

He would give his life. Even if it meant both their deaths.

It was an intriguing conundrum, a tight knot that couldn't be unraveled, and a partnership not easily explained without thinking about the Ultralink's parasitic nature.

Commander Ferrus' demands were reasonable in light of his relationship with the human hybrid, and Ven-Ghan respected the man greatly. He was a formidable warrior himself, level-headed, and respected. He had no desk-job, as the humans worded it. He was always there, front line. He went into battles with no reservations and he didn't pull rank to stay behind and simply coordinate. Ven-Ghan had met too many of that particular kind, the 'desk jockeys'. For Forge to stay behind, matters had to be vey serious.

The bounty hunter had easily accepted Commander Ferrus as his own commanding officer for the time he was on Earth, following orders and accompanying Max Steel on his missions.

So he explained to him what had occurred, who was responsible for Max's injury, how Steel couldn't detach from the suit without possibly killing his host.

Forge's features shifted from fury to disbelief to something that was a mix of both.

"And where is this Deg'ne-rok now?" he demanded.

"Running and probably trying to hide. I will take care that his actions are pursued."

"Damn right they will!"

The black-clad figure of N-Tek Agent Molly McGrath was suddenly there, eyes wide and on her son, then they slid to the two men. "What happened?!" she demanded, not unlike her brother.

Ven-Ghan felt a sliver of amusement at how physically different but otherwise alike they were. He would never underestimate Molly McGrath, wife of the greatest hero of the universe and mother to Maxwell. She was a power to be reckoned with.

"Someone hired a bounty hunter to go after Steel," Forge hissed. "And he had some new kind of weapon." He touched the earpiece. "Jefferson, Kat! Get to the original site and get me that weapon! Looks like an alien spear. Anything else you find, collect it, too!"

He got an affirmative and turned back to Ven-Ghan.

"This will have consequences!" he stated coldly. "If the Council doesn't act, I will!"

"I believe they will. Word travels fast," Ven-Ghan stated mildly. "And Mk'rah is an influential presence. The attack on his son will be persecuted."

Molly's hands balled into fists, lips a thin line. "I'll make that call the moment I know how Max is," she promised, voice shaking.

Forge briefly wrapped an arm around her, squeezing the slender form, and she gave him a thankful smile.

Ven-Ghan understood the emotions, had learned to read them in these humans, and his own were running into a similar direction. If the Council didn't pursue Deg'ne-rok, he would. With all at his disposal.

In the lab Berto was busy running scans and pulling at his already spiky hair because there was no getting through the SteelSuit. Ven-Ghan's own scans had only given him rudimentary data, and nothing about what was going on underneath the shield. The Chief Science Officer was talking with Steel, gesticulating, then running his hands through his hair again.

Forge walked into the lab, holding himself rigidly, eyes immediately on his nephew. Molly was at his side. Ven-Ghan chose to wait outside, simply watching. He listened to the half-hearted guesses and attempts of an explanation as to what was possibly going on inside the Base Mode suit, with Steel adding a few tidbits here or there, but he mostly tuned out the words.

He knew what had happened and that no human or other medical aid would help. It was up to Max and Steel themselves.

Ven-Ghan finally turned away and left the room, heading for what had been assigned to him as his own space. His fingers played over the personal com on his wrist and he sent out a report to the Black Star Council concerning the attack on Max Steel. It was brief, to the point, and would serve its purpose.

XxXxXXxXxXXxXxXXxXxX

Steel was exhausted, despite his power levels being back one hundred percent. Max was feeding him enough T.U.R.B.O. energy, even while unconscious and hurt, and Steel wouldn't have to worry about that at all.

But he worried.

About other things.

And he was tired.

It might be a human concept, but Ultralinks were bio-mechanical beings, and this particular bio-mechanical being had been linked to his human host for a good, long time. He was also still in the deep-link and very reluctant to give it up.

Berto was asking a million questions and Steel answered them almost absent-mindedly, concentrating on the human consciousness currently out like a light and resting within their shared mind-space. In the cyber-render, Max was sleeping in his bed, on his right side, curled around the injury, with fine lines marring his otherwise unmarred face.

Steel floated closer, running a gentle hand over the tousled head, humming a little. The presence of Max shifted, drew him in, held him, calmed him. He would refuse to confess, to his dying breath – yes, okay, he didn't breathe, but hey! – that he was snuggling closer to his host's mind, but that was just what he did.

They were okay. They had survived this horror and Max's human form would heal.

Berto had stopped talking and when Steel turned his attention back to the scientist, he found him staring hard at some data, eyes now and then flicking between the data pad and Max's still form.

"You're still doing it, right?" he finally asked.

"Doing what?" Steel replied innocently.

It got him a sigh and a shake of the head. "Deep-linking. You never came out of it."

Steel didn't reply. The deep-link was his safety line, was Max's bubble-wrap, so to speak. It kept him safe and sound, away from the pain and the general exhaustion of his hybrid body. He would do anything to make this bearable for his host; a host who had gone through more than a mere human could have endured.

Because Max would do – and had done – the same for him. He had fought to keep Steel, to not lose him to some maniac or other, and Steel felt the same. He wouldn't lose his host. He would do everything, anything, for him.

Berto shrugged when no answer was forthcoming. "Oh well. Not really a problem, si? How is he?"

"Sleeping."

"Sleeping's good. You should rest, too. I'll leave the machines on alert, just in case. I think the suit should be stable enough by now for you to unlink…"

"No."

Berto looked at the emblem on Max's chest, the light blue, stylized form of Steel in his uplinked mode. He finally nodded. "Okay. No is good. I'll let the others know. Get some rest, Steel."

Steel just turned back to his host and curled in close, relieved that Max was okay, that they had made it, that they had survived. He didn't want to think about the nuclear reaction that was Forge Ferrus, the moment the Commander in Chief was allowed to come visit. Steel knew he would get a yelling, with some choice names, and probably an expression of new distrust. It had happened before. Now… even after Forge had told him he would never doubt the Ultralink's actions, things might just take another downturn.

He had turned into the parasite he had been created as. He had deep-linked and he couldn't undo it. This was truly permanent.

Steel gave a soft sigh, felt Max's warmth everywhere as he tuned out most of the real world, and he just let himself enjoy the peaceful closeness.

XxXxXXxXxXXxXxXXxXxX

Recovery consisted of fragments of memories, of feeling disjointed, unable to connect to the real world. Max heard voices, caught his name, could sometimes identify who was talking, but it was just… so far away.

He felt Steel with him, a calming presence, his other half, and the very presence kept him balanced and relaxed as whatever was happening happened.

Now and then his mind rose a little further toward consciousness and he heard Berto say something about the suit, about healing, about repairs, or the lack of ability to do them.

Then there was his uncle, a rough, angry voice now and then, demanding someone to fight and stay.

And his mom and dad.

Dad? His dad was here?

He usually fell away from it after a few minutes, unable to keep himself together and concentrate, trusting in his Ultralink partner to take care of matters. Steel's quiet presence was reassuring and warm.

XxXxX

::Max::

One word. His name. And it sounded in his ears and through his brain at the same time.

Max turned and tried to locate the source of the voice.

He wasn't awake.

He wasn't even talking.

He was in the mind-space where everything just… was.

Thoughts drifted, lazy and still like mush, with memory fragments passing by now and then. The attack, the pain, trusting Steel…

Steel!

::We're okay:: his partner told him softly when he was finally more coherent.

::Okay:: he echoed, feeling far from it. He was tired. Exhausted, still.

But there was no pain.

::Berto's running around like a headless chicken. Forge's livid. Molly's just worried. Your father told everyone that the readings are good, to let you sleep::

::Dad's here?::

::He called. He, your mother and your uncle had a long, long talk. Mostly behind closed doors, but Berto is a blabbermouth. Something about the Council and some Tribunal:: Steel shrugged. ::Forge was vague that way when he asked Berto how you are::

::Oh::

The cyber-rendered room coalesced around him and Max found himself sitting on his bed, leaning against the headrest, legs stretched out in front of him. Steel floated closer, the expression in his single eye worried, close to apprehensive.

"I keep telling them all you're fine. We are fine. We just need some recovery time. Not something any of us is used to, right? Neither is anyone at N-Tek. So, they're still concerned. It's like they don't trust me…"

The last was muttered with some disdain.

"They trust you, Steel. Worry just overrides everything else. This never happened before," Max reminded him. "Terrified us, too."

Steel looked away for a second. "Yeah."

"Let's try to not make it a regular occurrence."

The Ultralink chuckled. "Well, I hope not."

"You and me both, buddy."

"Yeah. And your dad wanted to come, but what he's doing is important, Max. Really important. This concerns us and what happened."

He nodded. "I know, buddy."

Still, he would have wanted to know his father had dropped by, even for just a moment, but he knew that was currently not going to happen.

Max slid down to lay on the mattress, closing his eyes, and he felt Steel land on the pillow beside him, curling close. He smiled and let his mind drift deeper into the link.

They were going to be okay. There would be no lasting damage, to him, to Steel or to Max Steel. He was healing inside, without medical help, and soon there wouldn't even be a scar. Steel was taking care of all that.

The thoughts floated freely between them, Steel reassuring him over and over, and Max just let go.

XxXxX

Twenty-four hours after his rescue by Ven-Ghan, Max opened his eyes in the real world. Still sore, still tired, but alive and on the road to recovery. It was tell-tale that he was still wearing the Base Mode helmet, which also gave him a moment to surreptitiously look around and get his bearings.

Lab.

Berto's lab.

On a medical bed that had been connected to a machine, which was giving out readings he couldn't make either heads or tails of. Steel was solidly connected to his chest.

The machine beeped and suddenly Berto was there, grinning like a maniac.

"Max! You're finally awake!"

"Hey, Berto," he replied weakly.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like the Alphalink landed on me."

Berto snorted a little. "Yeah, I guess that about describes it. You're not as flat as a pancake, though. Bonus."

He grinned, but the expression in his eyes told Max how serious it had been. Berto entered a few commands and looked at the read-out, nodding slowly.

"Looks so much better than a mere twenty-four hours ago."

And as if his words had opened a door, people were suddenly around him. His mother, his uncle. Max let it wash over him, glad to be home. Just generally glad.

::Wow:: Steel could be heard. ::What a reception. Aren't we popular::

::Steel:: he chastised.

His symbiont radiated amusement, but it wasn't as freely as usual.

::You okay?:: Max asked softly.

::Yeah. What's not okay? You haven't blown up and yurs truly wasn't napped by some freaky bounty hunter with an attitude problem::

He gathered him close. For a long moment they stayed that way as Berto ran checks upon checks, running scans over the Base Mode.

"Your power levels are right back to normal," he declared happily.

"Yay." So why did he still feel like he had been stomped on by a bunch of elementors?

::This was worse than all of them combined:: Steel told him, thoughts freely wafting back and forth between them. ::I… we… need time::

Berto clicked his tongue as he pulled up Max's schematic, which showed a positive energy level, some fluctuations, and highlighted the injury in bright red.

"That… looks okay?" Max hazarded a guess.

It got him a scowl. His friend stabbed a finger at him. "That's not okay, hermano. You nearly got scrapped and that's not okay! This is worse than getting doused in radioactive goop!"

Oh yeah, that. Back then Max had been slightly shocked to understand that yes, the SteelSuit was good protecting him against all kinds of stuff, but it could fail. He vividly remembered Toxon's goop monsters and how his armor had started to crack and smolder in places, but the moment they had been out of the danger zone, it had rectified itself pretty quickly.

Well, Toxon hadn't skewered him, he thought darkly. The damage might have looked worse, but it had been nothing compared to what had happened to them now.

Forge crossed his arms in front of his chest, trying to look stern, but Max could clearly see sleepless nights and worry there, too. Not to mention his Mom.

"You're off duty for the time being," Forge told him. "I don't want to hear a single protest," he added, scowling. "If something pops up or raises its ugly head, I decide whether you go our or sit this one out, understood?"

"Yes, Uncle Ferrus."

"And I don't want to see some kind of lone ranger stunt either! Steel has the last word in your recovery, Max. He knows when you're ready and not before!"

"Uh, okay."

Steel radiated surprise and blurted a little, "Me?!"

Forge grinned. "Yes, you. He's your host, Steel. He's your responsibility, just like you are his. I know you won't let him overdo it. Not after this."

Steel shifted inside the mind-space, clearly shocked by the open words, and Max felt how his symbiont agreed with the statement. The protectiveness was almost overwhelming.

"I give you my word," Steel said out loud.

Forge nodded briskly. "All I wanted to hear."

Max closed his eyes and felt the helmet dissolve, though Steel stayed connected. It was a statement all on its own.

A soft hand touched his cheek and he looked up, into the bright eyes of his mother, reflecting unshed tears of worry and joy.

Then he hugged her.

Steel said nothing, was simply there, and out of the corner of his eyes Max noticed Berto shuffling out of his lab, leaving them some family time. When a warm, heavy hand gently touched his back, he knew his uncle was there, too.

He said nothing.

No one did.

There were no words needed.

tbc...


	6. Chapter 6

Okay, this has to tide you over until Friday. I'm on a business trip. While I can write, I won't be able to post because I'm only taking my tablet with me, not the laptop. Hope you can make it that long :)

XxXxXXxXxXXxXxXXxXxX

It was a somehow surreal and beautiful landscape. It wasn't the first time he had just sat here and watched it, taking in all the little details. It wasn't the first time he had flown through canyons and over open land. Still, Max McGrath enjoyed the barren wildness, the absence of any kind of visible, man-made structure.

Red stone in the middle of a gray, white and brown desert, here and there interrupted by the green of low, scraggly trees and thorny bushes. In the distance were the mountains, a good three hours away by car. Merely a few minutes if he used Flight Mode.

It was a peaceful place, out here, in the middle of nowhere.

The heat of the day had made way for the cooler night. Not that temperatures really affected him anymore. Darkness started to caress the sand, the stones, the scraggly bushes. There were no lights of the city, no highways running past. Nothing disturbed this utter peace.

Max sat on the rocky outcropping, looking over the desert as the sun hovered over the horizon. In an hour it would be dark, but he didn't mind.

He was here, in this nothingness, alone with himself, totally oblivious of civilization, away from the pressure, away from well-meaning friends.

Just him.

It felt incredible.

Part of him was aware that he wasn't utterly alone. There was a second presence, but it was guarding and gentle, non-invasive and very much keeping an eye on everything to keep his peace, to keep him safe.

Safe.

He smiled dimly to himself.

He turned his face to the sun, felt the rays on his skin. His facial skin because that was all he could free from the suit. Dematerializing the helmet had been a big step in their recovery, showing him that Steel had back control. Since his little bio-organic buddy could detach himself from the Base Mode suit, too, things were looking up for both of them. Steel had initiated Camouflage Mode, giving Max his usual outfit of jeans, t-shirt and sweater jacket.

A twinge from his side had him push his hand against his suit, and he felt the pressure as if he was touching his own skin.

Well, he was. The suit was part of him and relayed touch.

The still remaining soreness and small flares of pain told him just how bad it had all been. He had never been laid up with an injury in all the time he had been Max Steel now. And he had been in bad and really bad situations before.

Steel hovered at his side and made a quizzical noise, floating over to peer at the invisible injury. Max was tempted to pull up the hem of his t-shirt, but that was only momentary. Even after all that time he was fooled into thinking he was wearing real clothes. The projection was incredibly real, felt real…

"I'm okay," Max only said softly.

"You are not," his Ultralink stated.

"I will be. It's healing. I know Berto's having his boxers in a twist over being unable to deep-scan me. And Uncle Ferrus is the same. But it's getting better."

It had been a week by now and they were still off the duty roster, as well as grounded in every other way. No leaving the base grounds, no training, not even taking the stairs when there was an alternative. Max had never felt so constricted and so utterly useless!

Then again: a week! A week had passed and he still felt the soreness, the twinges. That spear had really messed them up.

And it still scared him.

There had been no nightmares. He slept like dead most nights, when he wasn't gaming with Berto and Steel. But the fear was there, ever-present, because of this weapon that had hurt them so badly. If this ever happened in a fight against a threat like Dredd or Makino… if a weapon took Max Steel out of the picture for so long, made him so vulnerable…

Max pushed the thoughts aside.

"Yes, it's getting better," Steel agreed, breaking into his thoughts.

He was the only one who knew how Max was in every little detail. Steel had refused to leave him for even a minute, was always there, didn't go on explorations or hung out with Berto alone. The suit was stable, Max felt only a little achy at the best times, and the bruised sensation would fade.

Still, everyone worried. He got those looks from people, the expression a mix of curious and empathic. He hated it. It was like everyone took pity on him; for no good reason!

He was nineteen! He was a full member of N-Tek, had fought his battles since seventeen, and Max Steel wasn't a wet behind the ears newbie! He wasn't just the best choice of weapon N-Tek had in fights, a heavy hitter, he could also take a lot.

Until now, a tiny voice whispered, and this time it wasn't Steel.

Everyone was scared. Everyone had suddenly realized that Max McGrath and Steel might die.

It was sobering.

For all parties involved.

"They are allowed to worry," Steel told him, the thoughts spilling over again. "Uhm, yeah, I got that. You're slipping along the deep-link connection again," he added apologetically.

"Sorry," Max murmured.

It was happening automatically now, as if he needed to make sure Steel was still there, that things hadn't changed between them and for them.

The Ultralink bopped in front of him. His fingerless hands framed Max's face, the smooth material softer to the touch than anyone might expect. There was an unusually serious expression on the face plate.

"Don't apologize. I feel the same."

It was a need for security, to counter the traumatic memories of being stuck, literally stuck, inside a mountain. It was a way to counter the nightmares, as it had always been. They had fought aliens and monsters for two years. While Steel had been created to assimilate and annihilate opposition, Max McGrath had been a pretty normal teenager up until they had met.

Seasoned soldiers got nightmares from less than they had faced, had endured. Dredd had been a major, major threat against his life, capable of draining his energy reserves repeatedly. Makino… yeah, Makino had been the biggest threat of them all. He had nearly killed both of them, but they had survived.

Max had always slept well, even after the worst of encounters, and he knew it was due to how the suit and with it Steel handled his half-human biology. His brain was different, worked differently, too. For one, there was his Dad's Takonian side. On the other, there was Steel. The cyber component. Together they made up a lot of what Maxwell McGrath was and what he could do. Anyone else of his age would probably need regular therapy sessions. Or even a padded cell and heavy meds.

For Max it had never been much trouble.

Soft steps could be heard.

"Hey, kid. Steel."

Despite his size, Forge Ferrus moved as silently as a cat when he wanted to. He smoothly sat down next to Max and gave him a crooked smile. It didn't mask the concern still prevalent in the older man's eyes. Max understood the feelings because for a long time, underneath he tons of rock, he had been just as troubled.

"Deep thoughts or are you just enjoying the sunset?"

"Both," he answered honestly. "And I'm fine, Uncle Ferrus," he added, almost defiantly.

"Hey, whoa, didn't say you aren't," the Commander in Chief of N-Tek replied, raising a hand. "Just checking in. That's what us guys in charge do when one of their own is skewered. Especially if that person is one's own nephew."

Max expelled a breath. Steel kept floating next to him, silently watching. As light as Forge's words were, there was an underlying emotion there, a pain and anxiety, fear for Max's life, and so much more.

His mom had been the same in the past week, even though there wasn't a drop of blood to be seen, no bandages, nothing at all. Max had calmed her, had tried to make light of the matter, but he knew it had rattled everyone. Max Steel was this resilient, hard to truly hurt warrior, and for the very first time something had come that close to really ending him. Yes, he was carrying an endless load of unstable energy, but Steel was there to control that, to handle it and give Max the ready access his father had always had. Takonian heritage and all that.

Yes, he had been on the very brink of coming apart because Steel wasn't there a few times too many, but his Ultralink partner was his safety net.

This time the safety net hadn't worked.

This time a weapon had punched through the SteelSuit.

Something impossible had happened.

"Sorry."

Forge shrugged. "You're entitled to flip some. I know how obnoxious everyone can be when you have a scratch or two. Been through the same. No fun. Thought you might want to know that Ven-Ghan had a word with the Council. We won't see our trigger-happy friend again."

"Good to know." Max drummed his fingers on his thigh. "Uhm, about Ven-Ghan. He said something back there…"

Forge raised an eyebrow.

"About him being my protector. I get that. He's been fighting with us since he came around. But he also mentioned a protection act. That Steel is seen as an ally now?"

Ferrus blew out a breath and scrubbed a hand over his unshaven features. "Boy, oh, boy, why is it always me?" he asked, looking at the darkening sky with its vibrant colors.

Max gave him a small smile. "Because you're in charge?"

"That means I should delegate that stuff."

"And still you're here?"

It got him a brief laugh. "Yeah, I'm here." Forge looked out over the desert scape.

Max waited.

His uncle was a hard to crack nut when it came to letting him in on secrets, but a lot had changed. A whole lot.

Ferrus sighed. "Not the best moment to explain such heavy stuff to you, but the gist of things is, your dad did a lot of ambassadorial stuff and political whatnots lately, and he got the Council to see the light, so to speak. I know Jim hasn't been around as much as you might want him, especially now."

Max looked away. Yes, he hadn't been happy about that. His Dad had been completely out of contact.

His uncle gave him a quick smile. "But he did some very important groundwork and he needs to follow up on his first success. Just because we defeated Makino doesn't mean Earth is in the clear. The Council knows there are still Ultralinks here, running unchecked. They give us tech, but they don't really want to trust us, and I'm not ready to trust them."

Max nodded slowly. Jim McGrath had spent the past months since his return-slash-rescue talking to the Black Star Council, though he had always thought it was about finding Ultralinks that had survived Makino's death.

"I know. And it's not like… I mean, I only ever knew him from what you guys told me. Now he's back and… it's weird, because he isn't really part of my life? And still, I'm always Ja'em Mk'rah's son and heir. I'm not sure what to think most of the time."

Max missed him in a way, though not like he imagined he should miss his biological father. They had spent way too little time together, even now after his father had been found alive. Sure, his dad had helped train his abilities whenever he was around, but the relationship was… distant. Max had next to no memories of his father from the days when Max had been a toddler. He hadn't even known that Steel had been there, too. Jim McGrath himself was trying to adjust to the fact that the last sixteen years had completely by-passed him. He was suddenly father of a young-adult son who had fought battles and won a war.

In a way, Jim related more to Steel than his own flesh and blood. Seeing them talk about old time, feeling left out because this was his father and his symbiont, and they shared so much more than father and son…? It hurt sometimes.

They were trying to get to know each other as a family, but it felt like there was no headway to be made.

Forge clapped a heavy hand on his shoulder. "I know, Max. I know. It was a shock for me to find out Jim's alive. He, your mom, me… we went through a lot together and then he died in that lab accident. Now he's back. You never knew him and that's even worse."

And Max would never say it out loud, but his uncle had been more of a male role model than the tales of his presumed-dead father. He had flung that into Forge's face in the beginning, fed up with all the secrets kept from him, but ever since he hadn't mentioned it. But it was true and the emotions involved were as well.

"So Steel's not on anyone's wanted list anymore? Or seen as evil?" he summed up.

"He's not on the Council's list."

Okay. Vague much? That was something he hated about these conversations. Forge's dry delivery of bad news wrapped up as good ones. Completely with a bow and shiny paper.

"I knew there was something," Steel muttered.

Ferrus shrugged. "Well, can't have it all. Those guys are pretty influential and while they recognize your contribution as Jim's partner and now Max's ultralinked partner, others might not. Ultralinks have a bad name throughout the galaxy."

Steel huffed. "Right. Just generally assume we're all evil!"

"There are millions of you," the Commander gently reminded him with a smirk. "Two have proven to be no problem. You and Torbolt. Even Ven-Ghan's Ultralinks needed to be reformed. He told me he wouldn't trust them to ultralink to him and leave him unassimilated." He held up a hand, stopping Steel from whatever he was trying to argue. "And while many of your kind were destroyed together with Makino, there are enough out there, all over the known universe and maybe beyond, to be a serious threat."

Steel huffed again, crossing his arm. "It's still a generalization!"

::You're not evil, Steel::

::Of curse not!::

;;And Uncle Ferrus knows it::

::A little thank you now and then would help. Or flowers. Maybe a box of chocolates::

::You don't eat::

::It's the thought that counts::

Max just shot him a tiny smile. His uncle chuckled and shook his head, probably quite aware of some kind of silent exchange going on.

"As for Max Steel," he went on, "yeah, he's officially seen as a guardian and protector. Like all of N-Tek. It is kinda neat." Forge smiled. "Berto's in heaven with the access to tech we hadn't been able to use before. It'll take us a while, but I think the new defense grid will be awesome."

Max laughed. "Yeah, it will be."

His uncle grew serious again. "We also kept the weapon Deg'ne-rok used. Berto's taking a look at it, see if he can come up with something useful for you to use in case of…" Forge trailed off, making a general gesture.

Max nodded. The lance or spear had been the first serious threat to his life. Even Ven-Ghan didn't know what it was, only that Deg'ne-rok had probably acquired it from somewhere. Apparently Deg'ne-rok wasn't known for his ability to create his own weapons. He was more of a see it, take it kind of guy.

"Your dad's looking into it, too. He and the Council are having a fun time, I suppose. Well, he more than the Council. I really don't want to be part of those mind-numbing meetings."

Maybe someone had launched their own little campaign and hired Deg'ne-rok to grab Steel. Whoever it was, his dad wasn't going to stop asking questions until he got answers.

"If you promise to take it easy, I'll say you can go home and spend some time with your friends," Forge interrupted his morose thoughts.

The younger man looked up, hope and happiness warring for dominance. "Really?"

His uncle laughed. "Yes, really. Just promise me, Max. Seriously. Take it easy."

Steel raised a hand. "I promise, sir. I'll watch him. Nothing will happen."

"You know what? I really do believe you." Forge smirked.

Steel gave him a narrow-eyed glare. There would never be any hesitation on his part to protect his host. He was Max's shield, but also a weapon if need arose.

Max himself felt only happiness. This was the last month before his friends went off to college. His own future was with N-Tek and he was officially attending college, though that college was nothing but a name on paper. Maxwell McGrath would be sponsored by N-Tek and he would end up with a degree, but unofficially he was continuing a job he had had since he had been seventeen.

"Now go," Forge added. "Before I change my mind. Molly is expecting you. Oh, and a warning, Max: she's still in mother-hen mode. Or mother bear, as far as I'm concerned."

Max groaned. He knew his mom had been worried, knew everything that had happened, but he was okay. He was soon going to be more than okay.

"You know she loves you," Forge told him seriously. "She was worried."

All of them had been, was the silent addition.

"I know. But I'm fine."

"You nearly weren't, Max," was the soft reply.

He nodded at that and got up, followed by the Commander in Chief.

"Steel, let's go," Max said and the Ultralink didn't need any more prompting. He fused to the Camouflage Mode and Max smoothly initiated Flight.

His uncle gave him a sloppy salute as the winged figure took off and Max enjoyed the freedom of flight. It was one of his most favorite modes, only ever topped by Rocket, which allowed him space flights, too.

He pushed more energy into his suit and whooped as they shot through the sky. It was another way to relax, to let his mind go into that empty space where he didn't think much, where only his instincts worked, where he enjoyed the calmness and the silence. Max cruised through the skies, rose higher up, let things fall behind. No worries, no thoughts. Nothing at all.

He turned on his back, eyes on the dark sky above, all the clouds below him, and he looked at the stars. Among those had been his father's home planet. A lot of planets that had perished still lit up the sky of Earth. It would take longer than his life or them to disappear.

Then again… he might live that long.

Longer.

He pushed that aside, let his eyes search for the N-Tek Earth Defense Network stations currently in position above him. He finally found the tiny spec. Icarus, his mind supplied. The upgraded hub station Daedalus wasn't visible yet, and Talus as well as Perdix were on the other side of the planet. Iapyx was currently under construction.

Forge had put a lot of manpower and effort into the EDN ever since the defeat of Makino and while there seemed to be no new threat for Earth, the past had taught everyone not to sit back and enjoy their past victories. N-Tek was busy, was growing, but still tiny compared to other organizations. They had one purpose and that was to protect this planet.

Max turned back around and started to descend, Steel still a quiet backseat rider. Copper Canyon was coming into view and he lazily cruised through the skyscrapers, everything quiet and calm, until he reached home. He touched down and Steel initiated Camouflage Mode.

Max grabbed his backpack and wallet, then he was off to meet his friends.

tbc...


	7. Chapter 7

Alright! Back from my business trip. Wrote too littel to be satisfied, but I was too tired in the evenings. I'll have to go on another next week, but I hope to have another chapter done before I leave.

xXxXxxXxXxxXxXxxXxXxxXxXxxXxXxxXxXxxXxXxxXxXxxXxXx

Pizza and a movie with Kirby and Sydney was just what he had needed. His friends distracted him from his thoughts as they talked about their years together at school, about their future ambitions, colleges, about moving. It was why being out of communication for two or three days hadn't been too suspicious. Max had called both Sydney and Kirby from the base throughout his enforced stay in the medical facilities and his recovery, had talked to Sydney at length, spinning a story about why he wasn't in Copper Canyon at the moment.

She had believed him.

Fingers crossed anyway.

As for Kirby, well, he had told him things were cool and he was busy himself.

Kirby was staying in Copper Canyon for the foreseeable future. He had applied for a public college place and had been accepted. He wanted to work at THI, which he found a 'cool place to earn a buck'. Even past visits with rather odd occurrences hadn't deterred him. Molly had offered the lanky young man an internship to evaluate his potential. Steel had voiced his doubts about that particular word: potential. Still, Kirby Kowalski wasn't stupid, just laid-back and sometimes rather lazy, though his grades showed he could be a good student when he applied his mind to a problem. And when a subject matter interested him.

So yes, Molly wanted him evaluated.

Sydney's interests went a different way and she had her eye on physics, though she also wanted to add math and chemistry. Max knew she would be great in whatever field she finally chose, whatever job she would get, and he was sure she would get something really good.

She was going to be on the other side of the country in a few days, moving into a college dorm and starting a new life.

Max put up a good front, even if he was feeling slightly melancholy. He still liked Sydney, even if the crush had worn off in time, and he just knew he was going to miss her. Sydney was a beautiful, energetic young woman with a great career ahead of her, but she couldn't be part of his life, of N-Tek, of whatever Max would do.

::You still got me:: Steel chirped in through the link, sounding smug and teasing in one.

Max chuckled. ::Yeah, I got you," he replied in kind. "For the rest of your life::

::And don't you forget it, kid::

As light and teasing the words were, as much as it was banter to an outsider, it held a so much deeper meaning.

::I never would. You keep reminding me::

::With your short attention span, I have to::

He chuckled, shaking his head.

xXxXx

The movie was okay, but too bland for Max's taste. The plot twists were none at all, but it was entertaining and he was surrounded by his friends. And it wasn't an action movie, because right now he had had it with things getting blown up or torn apart.

Sydney hugged him fiercely when they parted and Kirby gave him a manly back-slap.

"Don't be a stranger," Sydney told him. "Call. Send a text. Or we chat. Whatever. Just don't disappear."

Max swore he wouldn't. Kirby held up one hand as if he was swearing an oath.

"I'll give you my daily update on all things Kirby," he promised. "Hourly if need be."

"Uh, that's not necessary," Sydney said. "Just drop a few lines now and then."

"Sure," was the lazy reply. "You can come visit, Syd," Kirby offered. "I mean, unless Max is going to spring a ticket to the east coast, I'm not going anywhere but Copper Canyon." He turned to Max and elbowed him lightly. "You're the one already earning the load, eh? Me and Syd are hard-working, sweating college students on loans. You won the grand prize. You get paid to study, man!"

Max laughed. "Yeah, and they also expect good grades, work, and whatever else."

"Right. Bummer."

Sydney gave their friend a light shove. They had all talked about their future plans and Max hadn't lied when he had mentioned that he would be working for his uncle while getting a stipend at his place of work for an engineering degree. He had simply left out the part where he was Max Steel and fought alien bad guys or saved the world.

"Maybe THI works out and I can earn some spending money, not just interning." Kirby grinned.

::Oy vey:: Steel groaned. ::The horror!::

Max shushed him, trying to not grin too much himself.

They spent some more time talking about their plans, which was mostly Sydney and Kirby doing the planning, and Max stayed rather vague about everything about himself. They told him about Butch getting a scholarship, which wasn't really news to Max, since their former bully had called him the moment he had gotten the acceptance letter. To say Butch had been excited would be the understatement of the year. He had been dancing and yelling about going to a prestigious sports college all day long.

Yes, Max was happy for all of them, and still it hurt in a way.

xXxXxvxXxXx

Max dropped Kirby off at his apartment complex. He still hadn't gotten a car, since it was easier to either take public transport or being a passenger with someone else.

"Why bother?" he always asked, sounding almost philosophical. "I get where I want to be when I want to be."

Max sometimes wondered how Kirby's brain worked. But nevertheless, even if he was the biggest goof ball, he was one of his best friends, reliable, had a big heart, and he would stand by his friends no matter what. Looking at the stunts he and Sydney had pulled sometimes, Max knew he couldn't ask for better friends.

"Do you have time to come in?" Sydney asked when it was her turn and Max had stopped at the curb.

"Uh, sure."

::Oooohhh, date night!:: Steel teased.

::Shut up:: Max grumbled. ::You know we're just friends::

::Looks like that's about to change::

"I wanted to talk to you about something before I leave, before, well… everything seems to change." Sydney shrugged. "It's a big step, but then again, we all made so many big steps in the past years."

"Uhm, okay. So, what do you want to talk about?"

"You. And me."

::Told you!:: Steel crowed. ::She like-likes you still!::

"Syd…"

She held up a hand, smiling. "No. Not that you and me. I like you, Max. I love you as a friend. A really, really good friend, who is sometimes really weird, but you're my friend. What I'm saying is, I remember. About you and me… and Steel."

There was a deafening silence along the bond, actually more like echoes of complete shock.

"Ah," Max stammered. "W-what? I mean, who? I…"

"You told me before. You showed me. I know you are Max Steel, that you have an alien mechanical life form as your partner called Steel. I remember the canyon and the fight, and getting knocked out. Something happened back then and I lost a good chunk of my memories, but they came back. Gradually. Over months."

Max swallowed, looking pole-axed. "You… remember?"

"About you trying to tell me you're Max Steel?" Sydney smiled. "Yes. About an alley and a dumpster and you falling flat on your face. And flying. It was an amazing feeling."

"For months?!"

::Keep up, Maxwell:: Steel commented. ::You sound like a deranged parrot::

"But you never said anything!"

Sydney looked at her folded hands. "I wanted to. Every single time I saw you fight someone or something, saw how those things tried to hurt you or worse, I wanted to go to you, tell you I remember. Then I remembered how the whole amnesia thing happened. I would be a liability. If any of those things found out that I knew, I'd be a weak spot."

"No!"

::Uh, kinda?::

::Not helping, Steel!::

"Yes. You and I both know how big a secret your identity is. There's THI and there's N-Tek, who no one knows much about. Your so-called stipend is with them, right?"

"I think you'd make a good investigative reporter," Max joked weakly. "If your science career doesn't pan out."

"I'm more into documentaries, really." Sydney grinned. "But thanks. And I know you, Max. Have known you for a while now. Remembering helps, too."

"I guess. You know this is very, very, ultra high top secret?"

She scowled. "Of course I do. I'm not going to go around tell people you're Max Steel! Speaking of which, where's Steel?"

::Steel?::

His partner had never been shy about who and what he was, showing himself to others, and Steel detached without much fuss. He bowed theatrically.

"M'lady."

Max groaned. "Steel!"

"What? I'm just courteous!"

Sydney chuckled. "Hello again, Steel."

"Hello again, Sydney Gardner."

"You're no longer hiding in a backpack?"

The two partners exchanged a quick look. Sydney rolled her eyes.

"I remember, right? And after that it wasn't much of a leap. You never were without the backpack!"

Max scratched at the back of his neck. "Right."

"It's a miracle no one else found out about us," Steel agreed. "You weren't the best secret keeper."

He glared at his symbiont. "Says the one who kept talking incessantly in my head!"

"You didn't have to answer out loud," was the smug reply.

"Or kept rerouting calls into my brain!"

"Yeah, well… they were important."

"And you hummed!"

"It was fun."

"For you, maybe."

Sydney's smile grew. "So that's what's been going on all the time? You two bickering like an old married couple? And only Max could hear you in his head?"

Max met her amused gaze and shrugged a little sheepishly. "We needed some time to come to an understanding. Having so many secrets, not knowing a lot about us or Steel's past, trying to be normal in school…"

"And failing," Steel quipped.

Max narrowed his eyes at him, but Steel wasn't fazed.

"Yeah, it all didn't help," Max sighed after a long moment of glaring.

"Probably. And… no backpack anymore?" she prompted.

"Well, it was weird for me to have Steel from one day to the next. To have some alien machine attached to me… It felt like he was just a tool, and he isn't. Never was. I didn't want to think about something connected to me to keep me from blowing apart," Max told her honestly. "So the backpack was the solution. Steel doesn't have to be physically connected all the time."

Steel hovered close to him, nudging him gently. ::I know I'm not a tool. You know this was a voluntary decision on my part back then?::

::Yeah. Still, I wasn't really ready…::

"The backpack's gone now."

"I'm no longer in school. And it's been so long now, having my symbiont physically with me is… no longer weird."

"Aw, I love you, too," Steel crooned and wrapped an arm around his neck.

Max pushed him away, but the affection echoing over the link was real. He couldn't imagine a life without the smart-ass, sassy Ultralink and he knew he would always do whatever it took to have his partner with him.

Sydney's amusement seemed to grow and she laughed when they both looked at her. "You also solved the problem of talking about weird things in front of people who have no idea there is an Ultralink in your head," she commented.

He scratched the back of his head, smiling. "Right. We… kinda evolved?"

"Good for you then. I always thought you were weird. A dork sometimes. Loveable, but strange."

Max gave her an apologetic smile. "So everything is back? All the memories? All the explanations?"

She nodded. "The rest I added throughout the time I watched you. And you can rest assured, I won't tell anyone. Even Kirby. He wouldn't believe me anyway."

Max leaned back and Steel drifted around the apartment, looking at things. Sydney's eyes followed him, curiosity shining through, and Max finally prompted, "Just ask."

So she did.

And they talked for hours, with Steel helping out in some areas, silently listening in when it came to others.

xXxXxxXxXx

It was already late when they finally called it a night. Max hadn't really felt time fly by, comfortable as he was in Sydney's presence. It felt good to have a friend outside N-Tek who knew who and what he was, who accepted it, who had been through the same weirdness sometimes.

Sydney hugged him tightly. "I know I'm moving halfway across the country," she said, "but that doesn't mean, I'm gone. Come visit. Give me a call. Even if it's just to talk about crazy stuff and you need a sounding board or an open ear."

He grinned. "I will."

"I'll be back throughout my breaks when studies allow it. Even if they don't. And you know I'll drop everything if you need me."

"Syd…"

She shook her head, her smile genuine and warm. "You're my friend, Max. You and Steel. Max Steel. I wanted to help you before I really understood who you were, and now I still want to help. I want to work with you one day, at N-Tek. I think you'll need all the help and all the friends you can get. Tell your uncle and your mom to keep an eye out for my application."

He grinned. "You can bet on that!"

Sydney looked at Steel, holding out a hand. He blinked, then placed his own in hers.

"Take care of Max. I know you would without me telling you anyway, but I like this guy in one piece."

"I will," was the solemn, very serious reply. "You have my word. I protect him with my life."

When they were back in the car, Max was lost in thought as he navigated the dark streets. Steel was on the passenger seat, equally quiet.

::Are you going to tell Ferrus? Or your mom?::

He sighed explosively. ::Don't know::

::They will find out one day::

::They didn't about the first time I told her::

::Because she lost her memories:: Steel pointed out. ::And behaved normally again::

Max pulled into the parking garage and looked at his symbiont. ::I'll think about it::

::Oh boy:: was the reply, a heavy tinge of resignation audible. ::Forge's gonna flip when he finds out::

::If, Steel. If::

::Nope, definitely a when. Because Forge Ferrus is good, Max. You know he's good. He might already know about what happened two years ago and simply never brought it up because it didn't cause any problems::

Max chewed on his lower lip. Knowing his uncle, that might just be the truth.

Still, he wouldn't say anything yet.

If things came up, in whatever way, he would handle it.

xXxXxxXxXxxXxXxxXxXx

His Mom was home from THI when Max walked in and she gave him a smile, a hello, and a scrutinizing look. She was still in her business outfit,

"Mom, I'm fine!" he groaned. And it had been a week!

"This was the first time you were seriously injured, Max. I'm allowed to worry."

"And I'm fine again."

Molly frowned, cupping his cheeks, fingers caressing his skin. "Max. I'm your mother. I worry. Every single time you go out as Max Steel, I worry. I know you're tough and that Steel protects you, that the suit protects you, but it doesn't stop what I feel."

He sighed and dropped his shoulders a little. "I know, Mom. It was scary and it was something new. But we got through it. Steel and me, together."

And he worried about her, too. She was a former N-Tek agent, still went into the fray, and she was scary, freaky good. She was running THI now, had cleaned up Dredd's company and used a really big broom to sweep through every department. Molly McGrath was the head of an influential research company now, but it was a dangerous kind of research, and she still went into the field if need arose.

Her eyes strayed to the silently hovering Ultralink. "Yes, the two of you. You deep-linked."

"And it worked out fine. Nothing happened. It was also the only way."

They had talked about it before, but the topic came up again and again. Max understood that many still looked at Steel with some doubt, but there was no doubt for him that his partner was one hundred percent a good guy.

"Steel and I, both of us alone and together, we are okay."

She nodded. "I know, Max. I know. This isn't a trust issue. It's a mother issue."

And his Mom hugged him. Max made an embarrassed noise, but he hugged her back. Steel hummed, projecting happiness in turn.

"Awwww," he exclaimed and wrapped an arm around each human in a group hug.

xXxXxxXxXx

Max slept at home that night, in his room, and it felt good. That he slipped into the deep-link with Steel was natural by now. They were both alert, not dead to the world, but their minds meshed closer when both were resting, seeking comfort.

His mom was there for breakfast. She insisted on hugging him tightly before leaving for work.

"Mom…" he sighed.

She gave him a stern look. "Don't give me that, Maxwell. I'm your mother."

"I know," he said quietly and pulled her into a hug. "And I'm glad you are."

She smiled. "I'm in meetings at THI all day, but if you need something, even just to talk, you call me. Understood?"

Steel saluted. "Yes, ma'am."

Molly chuckled, then looked at her son.

"Yes, Mom," he echoed.

xXxXxxXxXx

He flew back to N-Tek around noon. It was still the most liberating way of travelling for them both. His thoughts drifted to Sydney again, to her revelation, to her oath that she would keep his secret. And to the possibility that Forge knew about Max's blunder from two years ago.

Steel hummed. He was convinced the Commander wasn't out of the loop and had his eyes and ears everywhere.

He would cross that bridge when he got there.

tbc...


	8. Chapter 8

Here's the promised next chapter that has to last you until I get back from my next business trip on Friday. Have fun!

xXxXxxXxXxxXxXxxXxXxxXxXxxXxXxxXxXxxXxXxxXxXxxXxXxxXxXxxXxXx

Talking to his father by remote comm. had become an almost regular occurrence, even before getting stabbed by an alien weapon. Just not so much in person.

It was weird sometimes, Max thought as he looked at the image of Ja'em Mk'rah.

His Dad.

The greatest hero of the universe.

A legend.

Steel had recreated the suit around Max without even knowing what it meant, where the idea had come from, but even with his amnesia he had modelled it in the image of Takonian armor. His father's armor.

Max hadn't known the man for sixteen years, and the past months of him being back in Max's life had been surreal. Jim McGrath was a stranger to him and relating to this person was difficult. He was his father, his mother's husband, a scientist, one of the founders of N-Tek.

Then there was Ja'em Mk'rah, who was even more of a stranger. An alien warrior and scientist. A man known for fighting Makino, for saving worlds or just people, who was this legend on a pedestal. A man who wasn't unlike Max Steel, only that Max Steel was the pseudonym for a teenager and Ja'em Mk'rah was the true name of Jim McGrath.

They were two people and still one and the same. Jim was Jim. He hadn't taken the name Ja'em again. He was Max's father and for all intents and purposes human when he was at N-Tek.

But he also used his legend as a political tool, travelling to wherever the Black Star Council was located, using his considerable weight as this powerful warrior to be heard.

Max sometimes felt he was closer to his uncle – which was absolutely true; the man had practically raised him – or to Kat and Jefferson, than to Jim.

But Jim tried. As did Max. Talking helped, catching up on past events, and getting to know the man on the pedestal who was also absolutely normal in so many ways. Well, aside from the fact that he was an alien.

Max also wasn't the only one who missed him. His mom had believed her husband dead, had just been reunited with the man she had continued loving even after losing him so many years ago. She was a woman who had never remarried or had had another relationship. Now Jim was back among the living and still not there for his family. Molly McGrath couldn't leave THI or N-Tek, and Jim couldn't always stay on Earth.

"Hey, Max," the 3-D, very life-like image of his father greeted him, pulling him out of his thoughts. "How are you doing?"

"I'm good. Everything's good."

Okay. Vague much? He could almost hear Steel's voice in those thoughts.

Jim's blue eyes, so very much like his own, narrowed a little. Max had no idea where exactly his father was, just that he was talking to a lot of politically important figures, attempting to forge alliances or form treaties, to protect Earth.

"Your mother and your uncle told me what happened, son."

Max expelled a breath, unconsciously rubbing over the sore spot on his abdomen.

"I'm sorry for not being there. I wanted to be, but I couldn't."

He nodded. "I know."

His father's eyes softened. "Probably too well. And I don't and never did want that. I'm your father and I haven't been that in a long time. Losing you… knowing someone had a weapon that could be so harmful… When I heard what had happened, it took a lot not to just turn my back on the Council and come back home."

Max gave him a braver smile than he felt. "I'm okay, Dad. Really. Thanks to Steel."

Jim nodded, mouth a tight line, eyes still reflecting concern.

And then they talked. About everything, about being stuck to the ground, about the suit being compromised, about Steel taking over and keeping Max detached from all signals coming in. The Ultralink was unusually quiet throughout it all, fused to Max's chest in Base Mode, which was just as unusual, but so much had been unlike any other time before. So far no one had called either Max or Steel on their new closeness, though Max knew people talked.

"Let them," his dad said when he mentioned it. "This is what both of you need."

"It never happened before. It never happened to you," he muttered.

Jim smiled. "No. My relationship with Steel was a different one. We started out as soldiers in an alliance against a common enemy. He helped me be stronger. I gave him a purpose other than assimilation and the death of innocents."

Steel hummed his agreement.

"The two of you have formed a bond that came out of necessity and survival, too, but it was a different kind of survival. You are friends and you trust each other. Despite all the memory holes Steel had, you trusted him. More than your uncle or anyone at N-Tek."

Max shrugged. It had been an instinct. He had bonded to a techno-organic alien parasite and he had trusted him. Steel was his symbiont and actually had been from day one.

"What you did, what you asked of Steel, was a display of the utmost trust anyone can give an Ultralink."

"It was the only way to survive."

"I'm not sure others would have been so willing to risk their very minds, Max. This could have backfired very, very badly. You might not have come back from it. You might have ended up without memories. Or he could have turned you into a vegetable. You had the option to wait for N-Tek to find you eventually. What you did was both insane and brave in one."

Max felt Steel's agreement and he placed a hand on his chest where his symbiont was still attached. His father smiled at the gesture. It was a knowing smile of someone who had been ultralinked in a good way himself once, too.

"You have to understand that what we say isn't meant to hurt, that our worry extends to both of you, son. Ultralinks are far from harmless. Their creator devoured worlds, mine included. When bonded to a host, an Ultralink maximizes the true weapon potential of that object in ways beyond our imagination."

"I know, Dad," Max muttered. "I've seen it."

"As have I. Steel isn't like that."

"I know," he repeated.

"I'd rather shut down than do that to you!" Steel said fervently as he suddenly detached from Max, single eye glowing brightly with emotions. "I'm not evil!"

Max smiled softly. "No, you're not, Steel. You never were."

"Ultralinks can transform a Link Slave on a molecular level," Jim continued. "In a way, Steel has done that to you."

"No!" Steel exclaimed. His agitation and anger was clear. The light blue color of his eye intensified, the eye itself widening. He made a sharp gesture of denial. "I didn't change him! I never changed you either!"

Jim smiled ruefully. "You did, Steel. You changed Max. Out of necessity. The SteelSuit is part of him; it's an extension of you, with him. It harnesses the otherwise uncontrolled energies. To do that, changes were needed. Permanent changes. For me, my suit was my regular armor and you enhanced it. Max… is different because it was needed for him to live."

Steel whined, sounding almost desperate. "I'm not like them! I'm not a monster!"

"No, you're not," Max told him firmly, holding his eye. "I'm not a Link Slave and you're not what Makino created you to be. You're more. We are more!"

"You achieved more in such a short time than I ever did in all the years Steel and I fought together," his dad told them, expression proud. "You're good for each other."

He chewed on his lower lip. "You're okay with it?"

Jim raised his eyebrows. "Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

"Because of your and Steel's past. I mean…"

Jim raised a hand, shaking his head a little. "Let me stop you right there, Max. Steel is your partner. He chose you. None of this was done by an outside force."

"Listen to your dad," Steel chimed in, zipping closer.

Max felt his partner's still lingering self-doubt and despair, the way he ran his past choices through his bio-organic processor, but there was nowhere they could have been able to make a different choice.

"Molly and I didn't know that my heritage would be this uncontrollable in you, son. Takonian children learn to use the energy like they learn to walk, run, jump or talk. It's just another part of us, not some kind of superpower. Some of us have a stronger connection to the energy inside us, like myself, but it's nothing extraordinary. With you, nothing manifested, and I thought it wouldn't come through. Or if it one day should, it would be watered down."

Max grimaced. "Uh-huh."

His father looked apologetic. "Yes. We both thought wrong. You need Steel, Max. And his choice was his own. You two are Max Steel and nothing will ever change that. I'm not jealous or angry. I'm actually quite happy. When Steel and I met, we saved each other that day. I survived the annihilation of my planet, he tore away from Makino's control. Back then it was us. Now, it's you. Permanently."

Max contemplated that, then finally nodded. "Okay."

Jim chuckled. "I'm very, very happy that Steel is yours, son. Very."

::So am I:: Steel added, chasing away the last, lingering slivers of jealousy.

"Thanks, Dad."

"Anytime."

"So, Deg'ne-rok is taken care of? He won't be back?" Max switched topics, away from the heavy emotions still racing through him.

"He won't," his Dad confirmed.

"You know who hired him?"

"In a way."

"You're worse than Uncle Ferrus," Max muttered, glaring at his father's image.

The older man smiled ruefully and shook his head. "It's not my intention to be vague, Max. I sometimes forget you're not a small child. You're Earth's protector and guardian, you're a warrior, have become a soldier at an age I wouldn't have wanted you to be involved in any kind of fighting."

"Yes, I'm not a child," Max said evenly. "Not anymore. Steel and I have been through enough and we want answers, okay?"

"Okay," was the calm, appeasing reply. "Deg'ne-rok was hired by a man who has lost everything to Makino, to the Ultralinks. His planet was destroyed, his family and friends killed."

Max frowned. There were a lot like that out there, in the universe. Survivors. People without a home. They had found refuge somewhere else, some bitter, some just happy to be alive.

"Yes," his father agreed when he remarked on it, "like many. Like myself. Like Ven-Ghan. But this one gathered the influence and the money to hire whoever he wanted, bounty hunters and assassins, whoever was needed to get a job done. He started hunting for Ultralinks."

Steel winced a little and hovered closer to Max.

"For a while he hunted by himself, but he was severely injured and crippled in such a fight. So he turned into a collector of sorts, someone who hires hunters. He was also quite outspoken against the Black Star Council and their attempts of reforming captured Ultralinks. He wanted them all destroyed."

"So he went after Steel?" Max asked, trying to control his anger.

Steel leaned closer to his mind, pushing gently, trying to calm his host while simultaneously radiating unease at the words. No one wanted to hear there was a price on their head.

"Yes, sadly, he did. He saw and still sees Steel as a killer, even though there is evidence he didn't kill his host." Jim spread his arms with a wry smile. "This person is rather… fanatic. He wanted Steel, no matter what, no matter who had to die, and he didn't care whether the bounty was brought back dead or alive."

"So, I'm a collector's item?" Steel asked quietly.

Jim chuckled humorlessly. "In a way?"

"Oh yay."

"Was this guy arrested?"

Jim sighed and he looked suddenly a lot older than his real age. "No."

"But you said…"

"He took his life, Max. After Ven-Ghan confronted Deg'ne-rok, sent him running, after he informed the Council, a full investigation was launched. One of the many reasons why I wasn't and still am not home with you. Law enforcement found him in his house. He had killed himself."

"Oh."

"We're still searching his property. What I've seen of his… trophies…" Jim looked disgusted. "Let's say it wasn't pleasant to look at. He didn't care what it took to kill an Ultralink; he only wanted the carcasses."

Steel made a gulping sound.

"Deg'ne-rok has disappeared, but is a wanted fugitive. I talked to Ven-Ghan and he's considering going after him if he isn't found. He's one of the best."

"Yeah," Max muttered. "We noticed. It's hard to shake him when he's trailing you. He's scarily good."

"I hope word spreads that Steel is not a wanted or to be hunted Ultralink, that Max Steel is Earth's protector and is officially recognized as such by the Black Star Council."

"Yeah, well, we can handle ourselves."

Steel hovered at his side, looking fierce and proud.

His father raised an eyebrow, giving him a skeptical look. Max grinned, a little sheepish, but mostly self-assured.

"You probably can," Jim laughed.

They switched to a few day-to-day topics, then his father signed off and Max gazed at the empty screen. It had felt good to talk to his dad, but it was still strange and weird.

Steel remained next to him, one hand gently resting on his shoulder. Max gave him a wan smile.

As he started to leave his room, he stopped in front of the full length mirror, looking at the reflection. He ran a hand over the smooth, black material that covered his stomach and sides. It came to rest on the impact point and Max still thought he should be able to feel at least a little bump or ridge from a scar, but there was nothing. It was his suit and nothing else.

Steel hovered next to him, regarding the unblemished area, then floated up to meet Max's eyes. "It's completely fine."

"I know."

"But?"

"It's still weird. I haven't seen what I look like, really look like, in two years. There should have been blood and bandages, and now maybe a scar, but there's nothing."

"There never is."

"Yeah." His fingers pressed against the material. It was highly flexible, incredible durable, an armor better than anything of this world, and several others out there in the universe. He felt fantastic with it, no complaints at all. It wasn't like wearing a diving suit or anything form-fittingly tight.

It was him.

"I need some ice cream," he suddenly said, dropping the hand.

"Ice cream?"

"Better than resorting to drink, right?" Max teased.

"You're not yet of drinking age."

"Well, depends on what country I'm in, Steel. And I like ice cream."

"I never would have noticed," was the sarcastic reply.

The door slid shut behind them as they left the room and banter flowed easily between them.

tbc...


	9. Chapter 9

Two days after Sydney went off to start college, Ven-Ghan was back at the base and Max actively sought him out the moment he heard about it. Not that the tall alien was hard to miss.

"I think I never thanked you, so: thanks for the rescue," he told the bounty hunter.

Ven-Ghan regarded him stoically. Max had no idea what he looked like underneath the helmet, whether he looked as sternly at him as Uncle Ferrus sometimes did, or smiled, looked amused, or confused. Steel had no information about Kadoun to help him in his assessment. The planet had perished long ago, long before Max had been born, and Ven-Ghan was apparently the only survivor of his kind. Even if there were others out there in the whole wide universe, he might never know about them.

So aside from the gray-green skin visible on his arms and five-fingered hands, and seeing he had legs unlike a humans, there was nothing to go on. Max couldn't even be sure the Mohawk was part of a Kadounnian or simply something Ven-Ghan used.

Both had talked from time to time, even about this particularly painful subject. Ven-Ghan had little to no memory left about his home world. He had been small to remember, but someone must have rescued him, must have saved him.

"You are welcome," the Kadounnian now replied. "It was my honor."

"What you said about Steel and me being seen as allies and protectors… that's why you wanted to talk to me that day?"

"Indeed."

"So, lucky me." He smiled a little. "Otherwise Steel and I might not be around now."

"Deg'ne-rok is despicable scum and gives my profession a bad name," the bounty hunter stated coldly. "He has no honor. He worked for the Black Star Council once, a long time ago, and I had some encounters with him. Even back then he would turn on you and sell his bounty to another bidder. He would have been no match to you without the illegal weapon he had acquired."

Max barely caught himself from touching the sensitive area where the lance had punched through the armor and him. Ven-Ghan looked at him, long and hard.

"You are a formidable warrior, Max McGrath. I believe you would have survived against him."

"I was about to blow him up with an overload of Takion energy."

"As I said."

Max laughed roughly. "Might have killed me."

"There is no proof of that."

"Right. Because the past few times I overloaded went so well."

"I believe with training you could master this ability."

Steel made a noise of disbelief. "You do know who you're talking to, right?" he blurted, stabbing a hand at the other alien. "The kid is a walking energy core! Without me he goes super nova!"

"So part of your training should be to channel that energy into controlled blasts. The two of you were connected at the time," Ven-Ghan said. "You are his conduit, Steel."

"I know what I am!" Steel crossed his arms. "You seem to forget that being a conduit doesn't mean I'm a miracle worker! Especially when my host is about to break apart because he had been skewered!"

Max shoved his Ultralink partner back a little. "It was a last, desperate attempt, Ven-Ghan. In oh-so many ways. I'm not sure it would have worked. And training that particular… method… is dangerous."

The Kadounnian inclined his head. "I believe it would be best to consult with your father, Max. He is Takonian. He would understand what you could possibly do best."

Or not, Max thought. Because his father was one hundred percent Takonian and didn't have the problems his son had with his heritage.

"Right. Because I want to blow up."

"It is a matter of applying the correct technique to stop self-destructing while taking out an opponent."

"Easy for you to say," Steel muttered, glaring at the bounty hunter.

"Well," Max declared with a wide smile, stepping in front of Steel again, "I could eat right now. A lot. So how about we grab a bite and you can tell me all about that big protection act and Steel's amnesty?"

"I believe Commander Ferrus briefed you already."

"Nah. Yeah. Well. In his own way. I want a second opinion," Steel quipped. "Maybe he forgot to mention a few of those facts again. He has a failing memory sometimes."

Ven-Ghan was silent for a second, then nodded. "Very well. I will relay to you what the Council has decided."

XxXxXx

It was exactly what he did. While Ven-Ghan didn't eat human food, and Max had never seen him eating at all anyway, probably because he couldn't or wouldn't take off the helmet, he had no qualms watching Max decimate a large plate of food.

Not that they got more information out of the 'lunch date'. Forge had really told them everything, left out nothing.

::Huh:: Steel muttered. ::First time for everything. Even for the great Commander Ferrus::

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

It took Berto a whole week to get behind what the alien weapon was, which a new negative record for him in his own opinion. As Chief Science Officer he had all the latest tech at his disposal, even alien technology, as well as not only his brilliant mind, but also that of Jim McGrath, and the input from Ven-Ghan, who knew where to get the parts used for the weapon on black markets or through not so legal dealers.

Between them, it had still taken a while.

"So, what is it?" Max asked, eyes on the lance, spear, whatever, that had been stuck through him not too long ago.

"Well, it's a spear," Berto started.

Steel, hovering next to his human partner, huffed. "Brilliant. And it only took you a week. How come?"

Berto glared at him. Forge, arms crossed in front of his chest, scowled.

"What?" Steel looked at them, unrepentant. "It's a valid question. I knew it was a spear the moment it punched a hole through Max's body!"

"Yes, it's a spear," Berto repeated sternly, eyes narrowing at Steel, "made up out of the same bio-organic technology that's an Ultralink."

Max gaped and even Steel was flummoxed, his eye wide.

"That's an Ultralink?" Max blurted.

"No. I didn't say that. I said it's made of the same stuff an Ultralink is."

"Sounds like it's an Ultralink to me," Forge growled.

"Well, it might sound like it, Chief," Berto supplied. "But it's not. Whoever created this weapon used several different techno-organic parts… scraps… and molded them into what you see here. It's combined with the technology Ven-Ghan uses when he separates an Ultralink he hunts from a host."

Steel made an unhappy noise, suddenly so much closer to his own host, and Max gave him a reassuring smile. Over the connection he let his partner slide even more intimately close. Right now, the simple reminder of what had happened to them before at the hands of the bounty hunter, had Steel flash a little. He was rather sensitive in that regard. Nearly losing Max just a week ago had him react more emotional than usual.

"Ven-Ghan doesn't stab anyone with his weapon," he reminded the scientist.

"I only said it's the same technology. It's the same basic principle of forcing an Ultralink to disconnect from its host body permanently, with one big difference: whoever made it used dead Ultralink shells for parts, too. He fused them with the already present tech used by hunters and that's what made it possible for the spear to penetrate the suit."

"I think I'm going to be sick," Steel muttered, hands in front of his simulated mouth.

"This weapon was made to destroy the host if necessary to get to the Ultralink, even accept the destruction of both," Berto added with a grimace. "You know, Ven-Ghan's weapon looks like a sword, but it's not? This is a spear and it's supposed to work like one. It's been created to kill."

"Who made it?" Forge asked, matter-of-fact, brows drawn down.

Berto scratched his head. "No one knows. Jim's asking around, as is Ven-Ghan. Hopefully it's a one of a kind thing. It's an amazingly complex weapon system. You don't just whip that up by throwing the parts together and give it a shiny new coating."

Steel floated closer to the spear, eyeing it with disdain and caution. He poked it with one tip of his hand.

"We should destroy it," Max said.

"No."

He turned to look at his uncle. "No?! That thing nearly killed Steel and me!"

"And it's an asset."

"In case of what?" he demanded.

Forge gave him a cool, unimpressed look. This was the N-Tek Commander in Chief, not his uncle. This was the man who made decisions based on more than family and friendships.

Max felt something inside of him boil and he clenched his teeth.

::In case of me:: Steel mumbled over the link.

::Us. The two of us, Steel. In case we turn against N-Tek::

::We never would!::

"So far you and Steel are unique, kiddo," Forge said reasonably. "We don't know if, in the future, we might find ourselves confronted with someone who is as resilient and hard to take down as you. Steel's ultralink to you is one of a kind, but it might not stay that way. You know how difficult it is to contain an elementor, let alone their joint version. If Berto can turn this technology to our advantage, shorten a fight against such monsters, I want that weapon. If it can remove the Ultralink from whatever it assimilated as a host. I really want it. And it if permanently offlines the bugger, it's going to be in my arsenal!"

Max flexed his fingers, then stared hard at the only weapon capable of actually killing him. Well, so far. Everything else hadn't really put much a dent into him.

"Max." His uncle's voice had dropped from the Commander to a more familiar tone. He placed both hands on his shoulder, squeezing gently. "I don't think you or Steel or both of you could turn against us." His eyes strayed briefly to the symbiont. "I think we got that behind us, don't you? I trust the two of you. I trust Steel."

"You do?" Steel blurted. "Really?"

"I thought I had made that clear in the past?"

"Weeell…"

Forge held up his left hand. His cybernetic left hand on a cybernetic left arm. It was the arm he had lost while pushing Steel out of the way of something about to eat him. It had gotten Forge's arm instead.

The Ultralink looked apologetic and a little chastised. "Yeah. That. Uh. Okay."

"I know you are on our side. You were nearly deactivated or worse a few times, and Makino wasn't a fan of you either. Or of your host choices."

Max grinned a little.

"But," Forge went on, "this is a weapon that might give us an advantage should something threaten you or all of us again. Makino might be out of the picture for now, but I have my doubts when it comes to Dredd or whatever Ultralinks escaped."

"I know," Max murmured, hanging his head. Even without Makino the Ultralinks were dangerous. They were following their programming, no matter what, and if someone caught one and used it for his purposes, all kinds of bad stuff could happen.

"All the weapons we have here at N-Tek are deadly for any single one of my people. The stuff we shoot at an elementor can kill us, too."

"I know, Uncle Ferrus."

Forge curled a hand around Max's neck and squeezed briefly. "And if we figure out how this thing works, we can do something against it next time."

"Yeah." He sighed. "I know. Sorry about that."

He seemed to be apologizing a lot lately.

It got him a manly pat. "I know there were a few rough patches in the past, but I want both of you to know that I do trust you."

"Thanks"

"And I'm proud of you, Max. You, too, Steel. You've come a long way, both physically and mentally, in this partnership."

Max smiled. Yeah, they had.

"As for our Chief Science Officer…"

Berto cleared his throat as Forge looked at him, prompting him to explain whatever else he knew about the weapon.

There wasn't much and it all boiled down to more testing, trying to take the thing apart, and hoping Jim or Ven-Ghan might find something on its creator or origin.

"Keep it under lock and key," Forge ordered. "No one gets near it without my express permission, as well as your and my authorization. Not even Jim, should he come visit."

"Yes, Chief."

The Commander draped an arm over his nephew's shoulders and steered him away from the weapon. Steel followed, shooting the lance a last, distrustful look. Forge herded them toward the mess hall where Jefferson was already halfway into decimating a plate of food probably meant to feed a small family. Kat was watching, her burger already finished.

"Hey!" she called and waved at them.

Forge pushed Max to sit down and went to get them some food.

Max relaxed in the company of their friends as Steel watched Jefferson eat.

"Where does he put all that food? Has anyone ever scanned that man?" the Ultralink asked. "He must be a mutation. No one can eat that much and not gain a pound!"

Jefferson shooed at him, good-natured and still chewing.

"He's a growing boy," Kat laughed. "And he turns it into hours of battle training and running."

"Ah. Yes. Very commendable."

"And Max isn't any better," she added with a grin. "He eats for two or three people, too."

"Takonian metabolism?" Max hedged a guess.

"Teenage boy," she countered.

"Teenage hybrid human with an Ultralink," he told her.

"Hey, I don't eat," Steel protested.

They launched into light teasing banter, interrupted only when his uncle brought over a tray of food. Steel zipped around the mess hall, but he didn't really stray far, and they finally left when Jefferson was done.

tbc...


	10. Chapter 10

Training with Ven-Ghan had sounded like a logical next step and it had been a good idea in the past already. While Max usually used Berto's creations as simulation dummies, or picked a level in the new training facilities, he and Ven-Ghan had come up with a semi-regular routine of refining defense and attack. The Kadounnian was a good teacher and Max had found that he had gotten a lot better with thinking on his feet, listening to instinct, and finding weapons of offense or defense around him. He had the fire power inside him; he just needed to learn to stop relying on it as his sole weapon.

Now he needed a way to defend himself against an Ultralink Skewer, as Berto had nick-named it. The name hadn't come across very well, especially with Steel, but it had stuck.

No pun intended.

"What are we? The next daily special? Max Steel shish kebap?" Steel had grumbled. "Side of rice or fries, optional salad?"

Yeah, Max hadn't been thrilled either.

What both of them hadn't counted on was that Ven-Ghan would actually bring the Skewer along to the first training session after his recovery. Steel seemed to freeze at Max's side, a weak whisper that sounded almost like a curse coming over the link. He suddebly hovered behind his host's shoulder, peering over it with dread radiating along their connection, small spikes of panic adding to the overall sensation of rising terror.

"Uh, what are you doing with that?" Max asked, edging a little away from the taller alien, Steel almost plastered to his side. He could feel his touch through the suit, along the link, like clinging to him with a death grip that Steel wasn't aware of.

Ven-Ghan was decked out in full gear, with his gun, the sword, his arsenal of smaller weapons, and the Skewer. He looked ready to take on an army of Ultralinks and Max felt a queasy feeling spread through his stomach.

"I acquainted myself with the device."

"Uh, why?"

"It is a formidable weapon."

"Right. We know that. Got the proof up close and personal."

::He can kill us with that thing!::

::He's on our side, Steel::

::Right now I'm not so sure!:: the Ultralink snapped.

"So what's the plan?" Max asked out loud, trying to look at ease, which he wasn't. He was actually very far from at ease.

"You always get in close with your opponents. While it is necessary for some situations, in this case it can be deadly," the alien hunter explained calmly. "You need to learn to make a choice between close combat and fighting your opponent with a healthy distance between you."

"He threw that thing at me!"

"Then you need to learn how to duck," was the dead-pan reply.

"You're a riot. Laughing so hard here," Steel grumbled out loud.

Ven-Ghan cocked his head, fingers loosely curled around the Skewer. In his hands it looked like he had used it all his life, the loose-limbed ease deceiving and a warning in one to someone who knew how this man fought.

"You depend on the armor too much. You trust in your symbiont to uphold the structure and cushion a blast."

"Which worked just fine until now," Steel replied, clearly pissed off.

"Yes. Until now. You came upon an opponent who had a weapon that can hurt you. You need to learn how to not get hurt by it again."

It was a sound argument. Reasonable. Logical. Made absolute sense.

And Max shared Steel's silent dread that it would also be very, very painful.

xXxXxxXxXxxXxXx

So Ven-Ghan was using the Skewer, with permission from Forge, to train and teach Max Steel.

It didn't go as well as expected.

It was actually as painful as Max had suspected.

Ven-Ghan was crazy good, a seasoned warrior, and he knew a ton of tricks. He was fast, agile, knew moves no human being had ever seen before, and he had his wormholes. While Max and Steel had gone up against him before, facing him in a serious confrontation where he was intent on taking them down or out, this was different.

Very different.

Painfully so.

Max gave a yell as the sharp blade of the Skewer bit into his hand and he pulled it back, flip-flopping out of reach, cradling the injured limb. He was in Spike Mode and had yet to really land a punch on Ven-Ghan or disarm him of even one weapon. Shifting back to Base, he looked at his palm and grimaced as he saw the black line running over the light blue material. He almost expected it to have small curls of smoke drifting away from the charred area.

::That hurt!:: Steel exclaimed.

::Oh really?!:: Max snapped back. ::I didn't notice!::

::Bite me:: his symbiont shot back.

Ven-Ghan watched him emotionlessly, all at ease, waiting.

"You still fight hands-on," he finally said, walking over to where Max was riding out the pain. "You always trust in the protection of the suit."

Steel grumbled something very R-rated under his breath and Max carefully flexed his hand. It hurt like blazes.

"The weapon can cut your suit, Max Steel. You cannot touch it, unless you have a better armor."

"Yeah, well, noted," he bit out. "It's not like Steel finds a handy little program for a new Mode just like that!"

Ven-Ghan hummed softly. "It takes time to switch an ingrained fighting style or tactic, to adjust to something completely new. That is the sign of a great warrior."

"Which I'm not, I know."

"You saved your planet countless times. You defeated Makino. You are a great warrior, but you still need to learn."

"Yes, Obi Wan," Steel sniped. His level of annoyance was still rather high.

Ven-Ghan seemed a little puzzled by the movie reference, judging by his silence, but he let it slide. Max knew he would probably research it later on. As much as he had learned about Earth culture through his association with Max, a lot still confused him.

"You tried to grab the blade of the Skewer with your hands, believing your re-enforced armor was enough," the hunter finally said. "What you should have done was evade and try to disarm me." He stepped back. "Again," he ordered.

So they went at it again.

Using Stealth and Speed, but it still got him nothing but more blows.

"The one wielding the Skewer is your target, not the weapon," Ven-Ghan said calmly, patiently, not even out of breath.

"I'm trying!"

"Don't try. Do."

Max gnashed his teeth, too sore, too tired, too pissed off.

::He really has the whole grasshopper routine down:: Steel growled. ::And not in a good way::

And they went for the Skewer again. For Ven-Ghan. Really trying to disarm the guy and grab the weapon from him. Going so far as to try Clone.

Ven-Ghan had his teleportation device to get him out of trouble and it left Max exhausted, running low on energy, and frustrated. He sported several more black lines on the armor, though none went as deeply as the first one, and Steel's language was getting worse and worse. Max was convinced Ven-Ghan could have done a lot more damage than draw a few lines. They were the equivalent of cat scratches. He was holding back, only teaching them a lesson instead of handicapping them. He sometimes even used the blunt end of the Skewer to deliver a blow, which bounced off Max as he was used to, but the sharp end was a serious threat.

When they finally stopped, he was breathing harder than after even the worst of his fights and his suit was criss-crossed by black lines. He felt utterly depleted and very, very bruised.

As did Steel, who was muttering rude things about their friend and the so-called training.

Ven-Ghan held out a hand to him and Max took it, the taller alien pulling him to his feet with ease. It was ridiculous, driving home their differences and his lack of power right now. Max was truly running on fumes and while recharge wouldn't take long, he didn't feel he could punch so much as a balloon right now without falling over.

Steel agreed tiredly. He hadn't detached and was busy inspecting the damage to the suit, which wasn't actually worrying. They had had worse at the hands of Toxzon.

::We failed spectacularly:: the symbiont just remarked.

::Can't ace everything the first time:: Max mumbled, exhaustion in his voice, as he dragged himself to his quarters.

Ven-Ghan walked beside him, not even close to breaking into a sweat it seemed. The guy was unbelievable. Max had thought so in past fights as well, either as an opponent or as an ally. He had no idea where the Kadounnian's limits lay, but they sure as heck were a lot higher than his own.

"Rest and recover," Ven-Ghan told his hapless training victim. "In our next lesson I will teach you how to confront an enemy without getting into striking range."

"Next lesson," Max echoed hollowly.

"Fun," Steel added sarcastically.

Ven-Ghan simply walked on, leaving them to collapse in Max's room. Steel detached and hovered over the prone figure, scanning the severely scorched suit. He carefully touched a rather dark bruise the size of Forge's hand and Max winced.

"Ouch," he mumbled. "Ow, ouch, gnh."

"He didn't pull his punches, that's for sure."

"Yeah. Noted. I felt every blow, Steel," Max grumbled into the mattress, voice muffled. "Every. Single. One."

"Hey, I was there, too. It's not like I get the cushy part either."

"Hn."

His partner floated over to the tousled head and poked gently at the dark hair. Max batted weakly at him. He turned on his back and groaned as muscles protested.

Steel curled up into himself as he settled down next to Max's head. Blue eyes blinked at him. Steel reached out over the link and Max let himself fall into it with a sigh, eyes closing again. He didn't even try to get under the covers. He was too tired and the bed felt too good.

The cyber-render was almost blurry, his mind too tired to take in the details, just making it into a warm, welcoming place, hugging Steel's presence close.

xXxXxxXxXxxXxXxxXxXxxXxXxxXxXx

He woke a few hours later, feeling a lot better than before, and while his very bones seemed to creak, the deeply bruised feeling was gone. Max took a shower, the Camouflage changing accordingly, even though he knew he wasn't really naked.

It was a great illusion, though.

He shuffled into the mess hall a little later, nodding at Jefferson, who was at his either first or second breakfast. The man was truly a bottomless well.

"Morning, Max," he called, smiling brightly. "Heard you got your ass kicked."

Steel rolled his eye and zipped around the man, inspecting the heap of eggs, bacon and toast. "What did they feed you as a kid? Super soldier serum?"

Jefferson slurped up his last orange juice from the squeeze box. "Also heard Ven-Ghan is using the Skewer with the boss' permission. How's that goin'?"

"As you said, he kicked our asses," Max sighed and slumped onto the chair, elbows on the table, fingers digging into his hair. "Thoroughly. I'm still bruised."

"Guy's good."

"You don't say," Steel muttered. "He's the best bounty hunter out there. He has freaky tech. He has the Skewer!" He gave an exaggerated shudder. "And he's Ven-Ghan."

Jefferson grinned as he cleaned off his plate. "That alone makes him good. It's all about teaching and learning, right? You'll learn."

Steel made a sound like blowing a raspberry.

A cup of coffee was plonked down in front of Max and Forge took a seat, nodding at Jefferson, who was just finishing his eggs. He was carrying two plates himself, pushing one over to his nephew.

"I don't need to ask how I went, hm?"

"No," Max muttered. "And if you do, I'll tell you what I tell everyone: it went nowhere good." He grabbed the coffee and drank it, enjoying the rich, bitter tasted. N-Tek's mess hall had great coffee.

"Ven-Ghan's a seasoned fighter. You're still learning. No amount of simulation can prepare you for an alien fighting style, let alone such a powerful weapon. All we can do is work on your reflexes, your Mode shifts, your endurance. The rest you need to figure out, just like us normal grunts."

Max looked at his uncle's calm, slightly amused face from behind his coffee, fingers curled around the large, hot mug. Forge toasted him with his own cup, lips curling more when Max scowled at him.

"I know he'd kick my keister," Forge continued cheerfully. "Guy's really good and he has tech we can't replicate or even use."

Yep, he had. Like his teleportation wormholes and the reformed Ultralinks. Max knew he still had so much to learn, needed to master new techniques to confront new enemies and old alike, and he had people who would teach him.

He ate his breakfast, suddenly more hungry than he would have thought, and Jefferson raised his eyebrows at how he wolfed it down.

"Oh, shut up."

Steel snorted. "Must be a proximity problem to you, big guy. Osmosis. Assimilation. I'm not going to say penetration because…"

Forge grabbed him with his cybernetic arm, fingers curling around him and muffling the last words.

"Nope," he commented.

Steel grumbled and batted at the metal. Forge's narrowed gaze held a ton of warnings and the Ultralink subsided, muttering something under his breath that only Forge could hear – and Max, since his mind was open to his partner.

"Good," the Commander only said and released him.

"That wasn't nice!" Steel snapped and went over to Max, looking at Ferrus from behind Max's shoulder. "I'm not some pet!"

"Could've fooled me."

"You take that back!" Steel exclaimed, rising a little higher, shaking a hand at him.

"Nope," was the answer, Forge popping the p.

The symbiont huffed.

The Commander just gave him a toothy grin that was far from reassuring or funny. Actually, he almost looked like a feral wolf about to pounce.

::He loves you:: Max told him, smiling at his partner.

::The way he looks, he wants to eat me!:: Steel countered.

::Nah… But he's the boss. Our boss. And you were being a little too obnoxious::

::Was not::

::Was, too::

::Not!::

::Too::

::Wow, look at you stabbing me in the back!:: Steel poked him hard in the shoulder.

Max didn't reach out physically, but he hugged his symbiont mentally, deflating the Ultralink a little.

Kat came by and collected her partner for their scheduled patrol, and Forge went over Max's schedule for today, which was mostly boring for him, but he was a student now. One who was also a special operative and had super powers.

::You don't have super powers:: Steel commented, glancing at the schedule. ::And yeah, you're all over the place again::

He hadn't disconnected from the hug. Max didn't even feel embarrassed. It was natural to be that close. And Steel never minded, really.

::No, I don't:: came the confirmation. ::You're like a sieve today, Max. Get a grip! All that mushiness…::

Max shot him an amused look. ::I don't see you disconnecting::

Ultralinks couldn't blush, but Steel could do embarrassed pretty well. Like right now. He flailed a little, then his eye was firmly on the schedule again.

::So! School day! Aren't we all happy to be back to studying? And later pummel-Max-and-Steel-into-the-ground day. Presented to you by Ven-Ghan::

Max chuckled and Forge shot him a quizzical look, then rolled his eyes as realization set in.

"Don't even wanna know. Well, I've got important, boring things to do. You two get going."

"Yes, sir," Max replied and did just that, Steel with him.

xXxXx

He checked in with Berto, bringing him a sandwich and a coffee, which was gratefully taken. They talked, circumventing the topic of the Skewer, and Max was rather glad about it.

As was Steel.

He hated the weapon with a vengeance.

tbc...


	11. Chapter 11

Ven-Ghan was staying on.

They repeated their training again and again. It was becoming part of his schedule.

"You will want to disarm me," Ven-Ghan told him as he stood loose-limbed and at ease. "You never know what a weapon can do to you or Steel. You need to be careful, assess the situation, take into account that there are weapons out there that can seriously damage either of you."

"As demonstrated," Steel commented.

"We can't be sure that's the only weapon of its kind." The hunter twirled the Skewer playfully in his hand. "It is an ingenious construction and while I doubt Deg'ne-rok created it, he might get himself a new one from the original crafter."

Max chewed on his lower lip. He didn't like the idea of more such weapons out there. Yes, they were useful against Ultralinks, but they were more than just a small nuisance for Max Steel.

"So, disarm, huh?" he said, pushing his unease away.

"Yes. That is today's objective."

xXxXxXx

Max didn't achieve the objective. Not today. Not the day after. Not even throughout the first week.

Forge sometimes came to watch, safe in the control room, and he nodded at Max whenever they met later.

"Getting better, kiddo."

"Better at getting our asses kicked?" Steel asked, rubbing a non-existent bruise on his non-existent behind.

Forge raised an eyebrow. "Looks like you learned to kick back. And Ven-Ghan is a hard target."

The Chief knew what he was talking about. His uncle had taken to training with their ally, to learn new moves, new tactics, and just to stay in shape. Not that he was a slacker. He was as fit as any of his crew.

"Does it help?"

Max nodded. "In a way. It's… weird, Uncle Ferrus. I know it might be the only weapon out there, but…"

"It hurt you badly," Forge finished the sentence. "You hesitate. You think too much. Happens to everyone who is wounded in battle. You keep rerunning what happened and you take it with you into the next fight."

"How do I stop it?" Max asked.

His uncle's expression was serious. "You can't. You need to work through it, not push the incident away. Both of you. Steel was as much affected as you."

The Ultralink blinked, then looked away.

Forge smiled a little. "It also means you have each other to handle this. Your connection runs so much deeper, gives both of you an insight no one else has into the other mind. Use that. Don't play the tough guy."

Max looked at him, saw the seriousness in the brown eyes, the honesty in the advice. His uncle had been in this business way longer than Max's age, had been into more than one tight spot, had been injured, kidnapped and tortured for information. He had bounced back.

"Thanks, Uncle Ferrus," Max said.

The older man squeezed his shoulder. "And if it gets too much, you know where to find friends. Talk to Ven-Ghan, too. He knows a thing or two about that kinda stuff. Don't tough it out. If you flash, tell him. His teaching method is good but intense. He likes to push you hard, so you need to tell him when you reach your limit. I'm here for you, Max."

xXxXxXxxXxXxXxxXxXxXxxXxXxXx

They reached their limit a few times, but Max bit through it, feeling Steel's resolve to find a way to win against the Ultralink weapon.

Ven-Ghan was relentless, without mercy, and close to unstoppable when he had his mind set on a goal.

The goal was Max Steel.

But Max wouldn't roll over so easily anymore - because what got better was their way of communication and interaction. Two years and counting as ultralinked partners and they still learned something new. Especially a new kind of trust on Max's side: deep-linking in battle as he had done when he had been stabbed. Communication flowed between their minds now, faster than before, minds meshing closer while each side remained autonomous. Split decisions happened within a fraction of a second. Max didn't voice ideas, his thoughts flowing into Steel's mind. Steel trusted his host, Max trusted his symbiont, as either party took over from the other.

What came as a surprise was how smoothly transformations worked, how quickly, reducing their more vulnerable time between each mode. Steel picked up his host's next mode and shifted them into it, enabling Max to go from Flight to Strength to Speed with barely a moment between each.

"Cool," Max muttered when it happened the first time.

Steel was tickled and he gave a crow of delight as they took on Ven-Ghan and truly gave him a run for his money for the very first time, though the Skewer was still a big problem. Disarming the hunter was almost impossible, especially with his wormhole jumps.

xXxXxXx

The first time they managed to get the Skewer away from Ven-Ghan ended with a deep cut in Max's forearm. He was in Base Mode and he had just disarmed one of the most dangerous Ultralink hunters in the known universe. The adrenaline alone drowned out the pain, and Steel's victory yell had him laugh.

::Take that, fearless hunter! We got it!::

"Congratulations, Max Steel," the Kadounnian lauded.

"Thanks," he laughed, feeling the first spikes of pain from the cut. "You still got me. Damn, that stings."

And it didn't just sting. It started ache really badly. In a normal human being this would have gone deep enough to nick the bone. For him, it was different.

::Destabilized:: Steel muttered. ::Deeply. It's like there are a million cracks in just that part of the suit::

And it looked like it, too. The hexagons were showing; fine, blue lines on white and black. It was a disturbing sight, one that never happened.

"You took a risk, but not without thinking first," Ven-Ghan told them as he walked over.

He took the injured limb and turned it carefully, inspecting the cut suit, scanning over the visible lines. He pressed a careful finger against the damage and the glow intensified as the hexagons crackled, spreading out like a flowing river.

Max moved his fingers and hissed.

"Stop doing that! Both of you!" Steel complained. "It's not like I can magically repair this! So cut it out!"

"Yes, mom," Max muttered.

Ven-Ghan nodded. "Training is over for today. You achieved the objective. Go and heal, Max Steel."

That sounded like really good advice. So he took it.

xXxXxXxxXxXxXxxXxXxXxxXxXxXx

He had no bruises to show as a result of the training, but he felt like he had been repeatedly stepped upon by all elementors and their friends. Max stretched and groaned as joints ached and muscles pulled. Yeah, the Skewer left long-term aches and pains, and even if he knew it would be fine throughout the day, it wasn't something he was really accustomed to.

Steel hovered at his side, scanning him, analyzing data he knew inside out already. He had switched into protective mode again and Max found it both annoying and comforting in one.

"I'm fine, Steel," he told his symbiont when he scanned him for the umpteenth time. "Ven-Ghan hardly even made an effort. I think I'd be dead to the world for twenty-four hours if he really used that weapon as it was intended to be used when created."

Steel huffed. "He wouldn't dare!"

No, he wouldn't. This was for training purposes only, not to leave another serious injury. The scrapes and scratches were enough already. Steel had yet to find a solution, a code to unlock some kind of new mode, or a way to channel Max's inherent energy into a better shield, to undo the damage, let alone prevent it in the first place.

"We'll figure something out," Max said calmly as he poured himself coffee and walked over to the couch.

Steel looked far from happy, and he also didn't stop going through his memory banks.

xXxXxXx

They went out for lunch later in the day, Max just being his normal self, Camouflage in place. It was his usual outfit of jeans, t-shirt and a jacket with Steel's emblem artfully painted over the chest area. Steel himself was in the backpack, also as usual, keeping alert.

tbc...


	12. Chapter 12

It was by mid-afternoon that they returned and Max smiled widely as he found his father with his mother in the living room.

"Dad! You're back!"

"Max." Jim McGrath mirrored the smile and hugged his son.

His eyes tracked over him, checking for anything out of place, and Max just about kept from rolling his eyes. He was really getting tired of reassuring everyone that he was fine.

Steel zipped over to his first host, clearly delighted in turn, and Jim chuckled as the Ultralink fist-bumped him.

The presence of his parents, both of them, also reminded Max of something he had wanted to talk to them about. Them and his uncle.

Because it concerned all of them.

His family.

As he listened to his father talk about what had been going on politically, Max tried not to let his mind wander to the difficult topic he wanted to breach.

"You found the maker of the weapon?" he echoed when Jim mentioned it.

"Not him personally, but we found out who made it. The spear was created a very long time ago, around the rise of Makino to power. The parts are very old, probably from the first Ultralinks defeated and off-lined. The creator was a weapons specialist and he developed the spear, but he died a long time ago of old age. He spent his life trying to forge weapons against Ultralinks. Ven-Ghan's own weapon, the one that can separate a host from a parasite, is based on this man's inventions."

Steel shuddered. Max just played with the strap of his watch. It wasn't even a real thing, just part of Camouflage Mode, but it felt real. Steel usually teased him about things like that, but today he was silent.

"Max? Something wrong, honey?" his mother asked as she handed him a soda and sat down next to him.

"No. I'm fine. Really fine. Training's hard and Ven-Ghan's relentless, but a good teacher. I hate to think of more of those Skewers out there."

Steel gave an elaborate shiver and floated over to Max's side, hovering at his shoulder in a show of support. Their connection was alive and very active, though not even close to a deep-link.

Jim's eyes went from one to the other, lips twitching a little toward a knowing smile.

"I know Makino hurt us badly, too," Max said with a sigh. "He could take my armor, he could have killed us easily, but this is different."

His mother reached over and squeezed his wrist. "We know, Max. It's one of the reasons why you father is actively working with the Black Star Council. It's not just about your safety, but also to hunt down the Ultralinks still out there, those not free of their malevolent programming. And there are still a lot."

His father nodded. "Too many. And while they aren't controlled by Makino, they do a lot of damage on their own. That's why I needed the protection act for you, Steel. As Max's symbiont. Your lives are too entwined."

Max's head shot up and he stared at the older McGrath, mouth opening. Jim's expression was knowing.

"The two of you always had such a strong bond, Max. Even when I still had to get to know my family again, return to a life I hadn't lived in sixteen years, trying to find my bearings after existing as a battery abused by Makino, I realized that this was different from what I and Steel had shared."

Steel made a whirring noise, shifting left to right and back again.

"I realized that for Steel to open up so completely, to allow such a deep bond to form without absorbing the mind he is connected to, it was special. For life."

Max swallowed. "You knew?" he managed.

"I suspected. Now I know. You just confirmed it, son. We don't really know what you and Steel being linked as you are means for your life, Max. Or yours, Steel."

"Mine?!" Steel echoed, pointing at himself.

"Like I say, you are connected. One life."

Max looked a little pale.

"I suspect you were damaged throughout my accident, Steel," his father went on. "I overloaded and 'died'. When you were separated by force from me, you could have sustained some form of undetected damage to your matrix. It could explain your inability to renew your batteries without Max's T.U.R.B.O. energy."

"Uh, okay," Steel said slowly. "But I never detected any matrix damage."

Jim raised his eyebrows. "It might be a tiny line of code that causes the problems you have without Max. The two of us never had any issues with prolonged separation."

"Well, you don't need a conduit either," Steel muttered.

"No. I'm Takonian. Max is a living mass of energy. No Takonian was ever like him, to my knowledge. Even my reserves pale in comparison what you can do, son."

"Well, I'm not Takonian. I'm half human. And humans age! This sounds crazy!"

"I know, son. I know."

"Steel didn't change your life when you linked!"

The Ultralink hovered next to his host, confusion written all over him, and he placed a steadying hand on Max's narrow shoulder.

Steadying for both of them. Steel needed this as much as his host.

"He linked into my battle armor," Jim explained. "For you, he created the SteelSuit. It's him. Molecularly it's him. He fused you with a part of him and that part is now you. The suit contains you. He contains you. Without it, I doubt you would look like you do, and I'm not talking about the camouflage."

Max snorted. "Yeah, I'd look like fragments of me all over the place."

"No. You'd be Takion energy."

Max blinked, confused.

::You'd look like you did when Makino removed the suit:: Steel said softly. ::All energy::

::Crap…:: he whispered.

"Your power is tremendous, Max," Jim continued. "Running unchecked. There's an aging process in Takonians, but your cells are hybrid and there's no natural control over the energy. Steel's a conduit, but this isn't just about him siphoning it off. His decision to form the suit around you made you one."

Molly nodded. She had been quiet so far. "Takonians already have a longer life-span than humans. Mostly." She smiled at her husband. "The Takion energy inside their bodies changes their life expectancy."

Jim clasped his wife's hand. "I didn't know what would happen to our child, should we have children. I didn't know if Molly could even conceive and you were our pride and joy when you were born, Max. Since you are a hybrid, no one knew if you would have predominantly my genes or your mother's. There was no way to test you either."

Max chewed on his lower lip. He felt Steel's solid touch, the hand on his shoulder, and he leaned mentally closer to his Ultralink partner.

"Just like I didn't know whether my Takonian heritage might manifest in you," Jim added ruefully.

"So… because of that… and Steel… I'm growing really old?" Max whispered.

"In a way. Many factors came together. You are linked, Max. Bonded. For life. Steel's life."

And he was a bio-mechanical life-form, nearly indestructible, resilient, hardy, and feeding off Max's Takion energy. It was a life-circle.

He had had a lot of time to think about it inside the mountain, pinned to the ground. And later, after their rescue, throughout his recovery, and in the weeks following that. It was a concept that was hard to grasp and still harder to really understand in what it meant for his future. Their future.

It made his head ache and his brain spin.

::We'll be around for a while:: Steel chirped in his head, sounding almost chipper. A little bit forced, sure, but he wasn't as overrun by this as Max.

Because Max was human; had been raised human. Had lived his life like anyone else on this planet until some years ago, and that meant he knew his life was finite.

Now…

Everything was open.

He felt like the teenage lead in some cable network show.

::Yeah::

::BFFs for real::

He snorted, letting himself get caught in the humor, in Steel's lightness and attempt to chase away darker thoughts.

::Bosom buddies. Cronies. Soul mates::

Max glanced at the Ultralink and gave him a smile. ::Sounds about right. You're stuck with me, I'm stuck with you::

::Soul mates sounds more poetic than 'I'm stuck with you':: was the grumbled reply.

::Yeah, me, too::

"Max?"

He blinked and looked at his parents, both of them smiling knowingly. His father's eyes crinkled at the corners with amusement and his mother's tolerant expression said it all.

"Uh, sorry," he muttered. "Habit. Sorry."

"It's training," Jim only said. "Your way of communication, the link, it needs training just like your fighting styles. You need Steel to switch between your Modes, unlike me, so link communication is vital. Every fraction of a second counts in a battle."

Max nodded. He had been caught mid-change once or twice, and that had hurt. Enabling a faster transformation was a key goal.

"I know Ven-Ghan is training with you. You're using Berto's very impressive range, too. Since I'll be here for a while, should we set up a schedule?" his dad offered.

Max felt himself grin widely. "Sure!"

Steel bobbed excitedly. "Facing my old pal and battle partner? We'll kick your hero butt!" he exclaimed.

Jim chuckled. "We'll see about that, Steel."

"We need to tell Uncle Ferrus about this, right?" Max asked suddenly.

"It's only fair. And you're not just one of his men, Max," Molly said calmly. "You're family."

He nodded. "I want him to know. No secrets."

It was something his uncle had sworn to him after Makino's final defeat. No more secrets; complete openness when it came to truths about Steel or Max himself. Sure, he sometimes obfuscated a little, tried, but it wasn't as bad as before. Too much had happened because Forge had wanted to protect either of them, or because he had decided it wasn't their concern. He hadn't counted on Max's endless curiosity, his annoyance of being seen as a kid or just a rookie, and his drive to get to the bottom of secrets he knew were kept from him on purpose.

It had been a learning process for all of them.

Max loved his uncle, understood why he had done so many things the way they had happened, that he was the Commander in Chief of N-Tek and therefor responsible for the lives of everyone under his command. It changed the way a person acted and reacted, even around his closest family.

XxXxXx

Forge took the whole revelation rather stoically, almost as if he had known or highly suspected something like this was about to happen. Or had happened already.

"The offer still stands," he told Max, squeezing his shoulder. "To talk. Or just share a drink. Soda or milkshakes for you for now." He winked.

Max smiled. "Yeah. Thanks, Uncle Ferrus."

"Anytime, kiddo."

"So, does that mean I'm no longer benched, too?"

Forge chuckled and slightly shook his head. "You were never benched. You had downtime to recover, to heal."

"I'm fine again."

The older man met his eyes, expression serious. "Yes, you are. Physically, mentally… you are fine. I just want you to be open if something comes up, Max. Whatever it is."

"I will," he promised.

"You're back on the roster, which also means you'll start studying more." There was a sterner note to the words, though Forge's eyes danced with secret amusement.

Max groaned. "Studying."

"You still got a lot to learn. It's not all about hitting something hard."

"I know, I know."

Forge raised his eyebrows.

Max sighed deeply. "More training?"

"More training," his uncle confirmed with an almost evil grin.

XxXxXx

The grin faded when Max was gone, and it was replaced by deep worry and an uncertainty rarely anyone ever got to see on Commander Forge Ferrus' face.

"Crud," he whispered.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Night had fallen and the city was lit up, a beautiful skyline against the backdrop of the desert. There were clouds hiding the stars and the moon only peeked out once or twice.

Jim McGrath had showered and changed into sweats, enjoying the calm life compared to what had been his life before. Sixteen years were gone, had never happened for him, as he had been used as living battery by Makino. It wasn't amnesia, just… there was nothing. He hadn't been conscious.

Sixteen years.

He stopped toweling his hair and fought back a wave of loss.

His eyes fell suddenly on the figure in front of the large windows overlooking Copper Canyon.

"Molly?"

She looked at him, her lips turning up into a smile, but it didn't really reach her eyes. Jim looked into his wife's eyes and saw both the love he had missed for so many years, the love that had been between them almost from the beginning, and the worry.

Worry for their son.

"Did you know this could happen?" she asked, sounding almost accusatory.

He frowned, tossing the towel onto a near-by seat. "The deep-link?"

She nodded.

Jim shook his head. "No. I didn't know and I never would have thought it could happen."

"I'm scared," she whispered, turning away and looking out the window over the dark city. "For Max. So much has changed and is still changing, and I never… I never thought this…"

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. "I know," Jim murmured. "Neither did I."

"When he so suddenly developed his powers… when Steel linked to him… it was frightening enough. I mean, he was sixteen, Jim! Sixteen! He had powers, he had an Ultralink, and he was immediately forced to fight a fire elementor! He could have died, Jim! And we knew nothing of what he could really do…"

"And he had already been pulled into a war that had been going on for longer than his life," he agreed. "I wouldn't have wanted that for my child, whether he had my abilities or not." He pressed a kiss against Molly's temple. "No sixteen year old should risk his life like this, work as a special operative for a secret organization, and nearly die multiple times." He sighed softly. "He's strong. Incredibly strong. So much stronger than me, Molly. So much more powerful, with abilities he hasn't fully developed even now."

She nodded. "And he has Steel. We didn't know if he was the same Ultralink who had worked with you, who had confronted countless of his kind and taken out even more; or if he had reverted to his old programming."

"I doubt Steel could be his old self again. He broke the programming."

"We didn't know that!" she said forcefully, rounding on Jim. "You were gone, Jim! Steel had off-lined! And my son was suddenly… He was overloading and Steel activated and… They ultralinked! My only child was ultralinked! I knew what that menat and there were times when Steel took over…"

He wrapped her into his arms again. His strong, fearless, undercover operative for N-Tek wife. The woman he had fallen for and still loved so deeply.

"I know," he repeated. "I know, Molly."

"And now the deep-link! We all knew there was no remedy for Max's condition, that he would always have Steel to function as his conduit, but now they have a life-link, Jim!"

Jim was silent, holding her, his own thoughts so very similar to Molly's, the fear and anxiety almost the same. Yes, Takonians lived longer, comparatively to humans from Earth, but his son was not just Takonian or human. Underneath the SteelSuit he was energy. And Steel was now unbreakably connected to Max.

One life.

He briefly tightened his hold.

"There is nothing we can do," he told his wife. "And as much as that hurts and as much as it makes me want to scream, it is for their best. They protect each other; they need each other."

"Because he's a hybrid!"

Jim framed Molly's face, saw the anger and the fear still in her eyes.

"He's our son, Molly. That's all he is. This could have happened when he was just a baby. This might have been a possible future for him, in his mid-forties. It happened now and he had the help and the support he needed. That's what counts. Not the past, not the future. The present. He turns to us for help, sometimes with words, sometimes with gestures. That's what's important. For us to be there for him. Even if no one can know what might happen next."

And even if his home planet still existed, Jim doubted someone like Max had ever existed. Not because he was a hybrid, but because of what his mixed genes had made him.

"Knowing him, something will," Molly replied, a faint smile on her lips. "He's your son."

"Our son. You're just as much trouble."

She lightly cuffed his shoulder. "Says the alien war hero."

Jim leaned down and kissed her, lips brushing together. Molly hugged him close, burying her face against his shoulder, and they simply stood together, silent, breathing in sync.

tbc...


	13. Chapter 13

Shorter chapter today. Not enough time to write today. More this weekend!

xXxXxXxXxXxX

Their planned training schedule was interrupted by the sighting of an Ultralink, which had been causing some trouble for a while now and had always disappeared. By the time Max cornered it, the Ultralink had absorbed a cat toy and had turned it into a ten foot, very heavy, plastic and metal creature that looked like one's worst nightmare. The one red eye fixed on Max and it glared at the team.

"The traitor!" it hissed. "Abomination!"

"Aw, man, that really never gets old," Steel said sarcastically. "Really! Everyone knows and no one cares. We kicked Makino's ass, so shut up about it."

"Do not dare to mention his name, disgusting creature!"

"He Who Must Not Named," the symbiont laughed. "Where did you spend the last decade or two? Watching classic movies?"

The cat screeched and jumped, lightning fast, and Max went down with an 'oof'. Sharp claws flexed against the suit and he winced, though it didn't hurt. It was pressure against his skin, but more like a sharp prod, not like insanely sharp talons trying to tear him apart. He changed into Strength, pushing the cat off, giving it a hard, right hook and sending it into a dumpster. The loud crashing noise scared away a few rats that darted away and the Ultralink snarled furiously.

"You will die at my hands!"

"Empty promises," Max teased. "Better ones have tried and failed."

"And worse ones," Steel added unhelpfully.

It went for him again and again Max fought it off, shaking his head. "You really don't know when to give up," he told the angry Ultralink.

No, it didn't.

But it finally ran.

Max changed into Speed and followed, zipping after the decidedly fast cat-thing.

xXxXxX

They had it after a long chase through zig-zagging streets, over roofs and along the train line. N-Tek had finally caught up with him and Jefferson netted the Ultralink when Max kicked it into a pile of old tires where it had difficulty finding its footing.

It spat insults at Steel, who hovered next to his host, arms crossed, looking unimpressed.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he muttered. "Oh, haven't heard that particular one before," he added, sounding intrigued. "Or that. I'm saving that to memory. Really nice. Might use it myself again one day. But that one is an old hat. And that." He tsked. "No imagination that guy."

Max grinned and shook his head, waving at Jefferson as he loaded their prisoner to bring it back to N-Tek's high security cells.

"So, plans?" Steel asked brightly, zipping around his host. "Now that we cleaned the streets of another ne'er-do-well? Pizza and a movie? Cheesy crime show marathon and nachos? Sickeningly overacted soap operas and tacos?"

"Soap operas?" Max shot him a look. "I never watch soap operas."

"You don't? I swear you'd do." Steel blinked. "Oops?" he said, eye wide, looking over the top innocent.

So his Ultralink partner was watching soap operas when he wasn't there? Shocking? Nope, not so much. Max shook his head again and suppressed a grin.

"None of the above. I was thinking of training."

Steel groaned. "Again? Get our asses kicked on a regular basis isn't enough for you? You want more? Boy, you really are a masochist, Max. Who'dathought? Maybe Ven-Ghan knocked you around too often? You should get your head checked."

Steel poked at the messy brown hair and Max batted him away.

"No. Not Ven-Ghan. I've just been thinking about what he said."

The hunter had gone to talk to the Council in person about something or other. Max missed their training sessions, even if he had been knocked around more often than not. But he was learning. So much.

And Ven-Ghan had been right about one thing…

The symbiont suddenly stopped, eye going wide. "You want what?!" he asked as he picked up on Max's line of thought through the link. "Are you insane?!"

Max tilted his head a little, shrugging. "He had a point."

"You can't be serious! No, wait! You are serious! How can you be serious?! You want to go critical on purpose?!"

"It's training, too, Steel. I want to know if there's some way I can get control of the overload, keep myself from going boom a little while longer…"

"No!"

"What if you can't reach me within the time limit?" was the reasonable question.

"No! Max, no! You'd deliberately… no!"

::Being separated so long is a weak spot, Steel. We both know it:: his host implored, using the more intimate form of communication.

::Yes, it is! And I'm part of that very negative equation! I'd go offline permanently without you and there's nothing I can train to keep me from doing that. My batteries run dry, end of story. And we both know I need Takion energy::

::You'd have Dad::

There was a surge of anger and desperation and Steel was directly in front of him. ::I'm your symbiont, Maxwell McGrath! Yours! You must have brain damage if you think anyone but you can host me! We talked about it! It's you. Only you! NO one else. Not your Dad, not some other Takonian or whoever else is in line! I can't ultralink to anyone else anymore!::

And the desperation was like a living thing, that need for Max to understand, to really understand, and to see that whatever he did to himself, it would have consequences for the both of them.

::Max…:: he whispered. ::Please!::

::I know:: Max met the bright eye that radiated how upset Steel was calmly. ::And you know we had situations in the past: I was about to blow myself apart, but you weren't yet in any way close to shutting down. I could have used that insane amount of energy I was accumulating to blow apart the Alpha Link the first time, but I couldn't. You are needed as my conduit, but even then it's not really all under control, right? I just push my energy through you. And I can't channel all of it either. I needed Dad. What if it happens again?::

::Another Alpha Link? Really unlikely::

::You know what I mean. I have to be able to hang on until you reach me, Steel. Or bleed off the excess until you do. With Makino…::

::Makino is dead:: Steel snarled, remembering the fear again.

…the terror spreading through him.

…seeing Max in his pure energy form.

….the SteelSuit torn off by Makino, about to die at the hands of first Ultralink ever created.

Steel nearly whimpered. Instead he stared furiously at his host. ::He's dead and gone, dust and nothing else. He was the only one able to… do this. And I'm not going to stand by and watch you writhe in pain because you have this crazy idea in your head!::

Max smiled warmly, reaching for him. ::I appreciate the sentiment, buddy. I really do::

Steel fidgeted a little, clearly fighting embarrassment, but the warmth didn't abide. It was running freely between them, the worry and care for each other.

::But I want to know, Steel. Dad said I have so much more in me, that I haven't reached the end just yet. If I can dig deeper, find what it needs to…::

::Max…:: he tried to interrupt, anxiety warring with desperation.

::Just to see if it's possible. A one-time experiment!::

Steel groaned, eye closed. ::You're not going to let this go right?:: he sighed.

::Nope::

::And you won't tell either Forge or Ven-Ghan::

::Yep::

::And you know it's not exactly what Ven-Ghan proposed, right?" he asked sarcastically, looking at his best friend. ::Our noble alien warrior was talking about controlled energy bursts! It wasn't about taking off the dampeners and watch you go critical!::

Max shrugged.

Steel groaned. "Why did it have to be you?" he muttered. "Why did I have to be ultralinked to a human with no brain, no self-preservation, no reason…?" he asked out loud. "Why me?"

Max gave him a bright smile. "And I love you too, partner."

But he would do this.

The Ultralink hovered in front of him, then suddenly wrapped his arms around Max's neck. Max just held him close.

He wouldn't budge from his plan.

He wanted to know.

tbc...


	14. Chapter 14

It went as badly as Steel had suspected and it was even worse than what he had thought it would be like. The T.U.R.B.O. dampeners were off, Max's energy was rising constantly with no one regulating it, and all his host wanted to do was to wait.

And see.

And feel the first flickers when the eight hour limit was approaching fast.

Blue sizzled over his skin, lit up his eyes, coursed through his system as his body accumulated more and more of the Takonian energy. The blue eyes were now an unearthly, bright color, lightning in their depths, and they were no longer human. They were anything but human.

Max started to wince again and again, lips a thin blue line in the dark blue features.

"Max…" Steel started, but his host stopped him with narrowed eyes.

Eyes that were leaking energy in winding wisps that dissipated into thin air.

It was like watching an open flame in a weird, out of this world fireplace. It was creepy, but not too much. Steel had seen it often enough, even when Max was just at the beginning of an overload, when the faint surges enveloped his hands and shone in his eyes.

They had chosen a remote location for this, far away from N-Tek's prying eyes. Or so Steel hoped.

Because if Forge got wind of this little stunt… well, experiment, he would tear them a new one. Not to mention Molly of Jim.

Oh, he didn't really want to think of anyone in that family finding out what he had condoned, what he was currently watching and letting happen.

His own batteries were still within safety levels, but just about. He would have to link up within the next thirty minutes so he wouldn't offline and then slip away; thirty long minutes he knew his host didn't have. Max couldn't take what his body was doing for much longer. He was pushing himself into this, digging into his core to raise the energy level faster than it normally would.

A groan of pain left the young man's lips and Steel instinctively moved closer, reaching for him, but stopped himself again.

This was hard.

This was torture! Absolute torture!

Steel felt his own circuits cramp in shared agony, his anxiety rising, and he heard something like a pained keening. It turned out to be himself making that sound.

By now the pale human skin had started to lose the solid look, turning into the energy state Steel had seen way too often before for his liking. Max's still humanoid form was filled with darkness that wasn't black but bluish, lighter blue cores deep within, growing more pronounced. There was a shiver of electricity in the air around him, expanding, surrounding the shaking form with curving blue and silvery lines in an almost perfect orb. It was beautiful and eerily scary in one to behold. There were hexagonal particles floating at the surface of that bubble.

Yes, Steel had seen that often enough.

He knew how dangerous it was.

How painful.

With a soft cry Max suddenly went to his knees, curling into himself, and Steel whined in shared pain.

"Max…"

::No:: was the breathy reply over the connection. ::I can still hold it. I can, Steel…::

But there was pain. A lot of it. And Max was fighting his faulty genes, trying to contain the Takion energy, but he was quickly reaching the point of no return.

::You're not Takonian! You can't do this, Max! You just can't! You have no control, you moron! Don't you understand?!::

There was a weak whimper, a denial without words, and then a low, burning cry. Max wasn't someone to give up easily. He was persistent and resilient, he was stubborn and tenacious when it came to solving a problem.

But there was no solution, Steel knew, trying to push it across their connection.

This was growing to be much worse than Makino's torture.

Much, much worse.

Because there was no evil bad guy doing this; it was Max himself.

"Max, please!" Steel begged, so close to the shaking form he could just reach out and touch the fluctuating mass of highly volatile energy. "Stop this! Let me help!"

Violent bursts zapped everywhere. It was biting, sharp, arcing away from the writhing Takonian hybrid in the middle.

::I can do it…:: Max breathed, despair mixing with despondency. ::I can… do…::

The words were cut off by another choking cry.

Steel twitched hard, the memories of such agony too bright in his mind, forced to watch as Makino hurt his host, making Max scream.

::You can't, idiot!:: he cried. ::That's the point of this whole mess we have been in for so long! You can't train it! You can't learn any techniques!::

Those inhuman eyes looked at him, the excessive energy running wild in their depths. It was bright white now, the blue almost gone, the intensity incredible.

And Steel could see the anguish in there, Max shaking with the strain he was under. The power was immense, building and building, growing too much for the young man to contain much longer. But there was also this dogged determination that would be their downfall if Steel didn't do something soon.

He had to.

Maybe because he was the only sane one in this partnership.

::Max… please:: he begged again, holding out his hands. ::Please, please, please! You need me. You need my help and I want to help! It's what we are!::

He couldn't watch this! He couldn't stand by and watch his host suffer, feeling echoes of the pain over the tightly guarded link. Steel had sworn to protect Max McGrath, his best friend, and his protective instincts were screeching at him.

::I'm your symbiont!::

The cry tearing from Max's lip was the last little push he needed, had him close the distance, taking the initiative.

There was no resistance.

Max embraced him, mentally and physically, and the moment Steel clicked into place, the SteelSuit enveloped him, the T.U.R.B.O. energy contained from one second to the next. Steel felt his own batteries charge completely within a fraction of a second, and he breathed a shuddering sigh of relief.

His host uncurled and leaned back against a boulder. There were tremors running through the slender frame for a whole second, an echo of how violent, how harsh, this had been.

"That didn't go as planned," Max mumbled dejectedly, a sliver of anger in his voice.

The pain was gone, though.

There was never any recuperation period. They didn't need it. The moment the dampeners were back on, the moment the conduit was in place, Max McGrath was absolutely fine again; no lingering effects.

Aside from the little burst of annoyance mixed with anger Steel could feel over the link.

"And it won't work like that," he told his host, repeating his earlier words.

Max blew out a sharp breath, shaking his head almost like in denial.

"It won't ever work like that," Steel continued, voice intense. "You can't train it, Max. If it was at all possible, we would have seen some kind of change in your reactions, in the way you handle the outpour, in the past already. You lack something and it's genetic, not just training. You're only half Takonian and nothing you can do will ever change that!"

Max groaned and buried his head in his hands, fingers clenching into his disheveled hair, digging into his scalp. ::It's just so… frustrating!::

::Tell me about it:: Steel remarked wryly, using the link as well. ::You think I want to shut down after eight hours of no contact? My fellow Ultralinks don't have that problem. My matrix was compromised::

::But I have something at my disposal that is an incredible weapon, Steel! Ven-Ghan said so! If I could use an overload in a controlled outburst…::

::If being the most important word here::

Max gnashed his teeth.

Steel slid closer through the connection and Max let himself meet him in the mind-space. The cyber-render was neutral this time. He gently touched his host, tilting the head up a little to meet the expressive blue eyes.

"Max, you can't. You can't extend the time you have before going critical. You can't use the energy to take out an opponent and bleed off what is killing you."

It got him a sharp exhalation of breath.

"We're not invincible. It's your Kryptonite," the symbiont added, briefly letting amusement bleed into the words. "No one is infallible or invincible anyway."

"All I can do is uncontrolled bursts…"

"Uh, yeah. Or pour it all out, but without going spectacularly kaboom yourself." Steel shrugged a little. "And I think Ven-Ghan meant the two of us training together as a unit, with me helping regulate those bursts. He wasn't suggesting this whole mess…" He gestured widely. "I think, with a little adjustment, we might get a grip on the energy bursts. You can already channel T.U.R.B.O. energy through me, right? With some tweaks we might get a new Mode out of that one. And you can already charge me and use me like a boomerang. We never fine-tuned that one, always going for the heavy-hitter Modes. We can figure this out, Max. The rest… no. I'm not doing that again!"

Max gave him a wan smile. "Yeah. Neither will I. Voluntarily."

There was nothing they could do, not even with Jim's help.

"We have enough Modes to kick a lot of ass," Steel added with a smirk audible. "And we might find a few more in my programming. Your Dad's been helping me remember a little more, so maybe we come up with something."

"As long as you're there."

Steel looked into his host's eyes, seeing the emotional turmoil in there. "I'll always be there, Max McGrath," he said earnestly. "We're one. Nothing can or will ever change that. Not gonna leave."

Max's smiled tentatively. "I know."

::And I wouldn't even if I didn't need you as my recharger:: Steel added softly.

The tentative smile turned warm. ::Same here, buddy::

xXxXxX

They stayed in the cyber-render for a while, then Max finally decided it was time to head back. He switched to Flight and they set a course for N-Tek. Steel dreaded the moment Ferrus would confront them about this little stunt. He had no doubt about it that the Commander had monitored the sudden burst of Takion energy. Or Berto had picked it up on one of the surveillance satellites. Or with the sensors of one of the Network's stations.

Strangely enough, Forge just gave them a nod when they touched down.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

It wasn't until they ran into him a few hours later that Forge wordlessly gestured at Max to follow.

And he did, dread pooling in is stomach.

"Did you get it out of your system?" the Commander asked when they were in what could probably be called Forge's office. It was one of those bare, functional and rather impersonal affairs. There wasn't even a picture anywhere.

"Uh, what?" Max asked, trying for confusion.

"Nice try, kiddo, but Berto registered a massive build-up of Takion energy. Since your dad's not in the vicinity and not prone to overloading, you came t mind." The sharp eyes flicked to Steel. "What happened?"

Steel glanced at his host, hands folded, trying to look small and inconspicuous. He was failing, he knew. Badly.

"I… we… tried something," Max stammered.

"Uh-huh."

"It… was perfectly safe" he rushed to add.

::Uh-huh:: Max sent, a perfect imitation of Forge.

Forge's eyebrows lowered, the glint in his eyes far from reassuring. The silence was heavy between them, and Max fidgeted a little.

"Uncle Forge…" he finally cracked, a pleading tone to the words. "I… we…"

Forge pinched the bridge of his nose with a world-weary sigh. It stopped Max immediately.

"I expected that to happen a lot sooner, so when you two didn't start experimenting with the dampening effects, I thought I was clear. Well, late-bloomers and all. What triggered it? The attack?"

Max's shoulders sagged a little and he evaded the knowing, dark eyes. "Kinda. And training."

The thick eyebrows shot up. "Training? With Ven-Ghan? How in the world would you…?" He groaned and scrubbed a hand over his face. "Only you two."

"I had nothing to do with it!" Steel quickly intervened. "Nothing at all! If anything, I was the voice of reason!"

"You." And could he sound any more wry?

Steel bristled. "Yes. Me. I told him it was a bad idea and we shouldn't do this. That it wouldn't ever work."

Ferrus nodded. "Only too true."

"Steel's telling the truth, Uncle Ferrus. I wanted to try it."

"I hope once was enough. You can't train this, kid. Ever. Or your father would already have started a schedule. And he's the expert when it comes to generating T.U.R.B.O. energy."

"Yeah."

Forge approached them and Max looked up. His uncle looked drawn between pissed and understanding.

"It won't happen again," he promised solemnly.

"I'm pretty sure it won't." Those hard eyes were now on Steel, who moved back a little, his own eye widening. "Right?"

"Uh, sir, yes, sir!"

"Then we have an understanding. Also, your mother has no idea. Nor does your father."

Max stared at his uncle.

"She would kill me if she knew," Forge added. "And then you two."

The unspoken 'keep your mouths shut about this little stunt' was understood.

xXxXxX

Jim stepped out of the adjoining conference room, eyes meeting Forge's, and the Commander just sank onto his chair, running a hand over his face.

"Your son," he grunted.

Jim chuckled, though there was hardly any humor in his expression. "Your nephew. You raised him in my stead for the past sixteen years."

Forge snorted. "I didn't teach him that particular stunt. He's as headstrong as his mother, though."

"Runs in the maternal side of the family."

It got Jim a narrow-eyed look.

"But I suspected something like that would happen one day," he continued as he sat in the visitor's chair.

"I'm not going to tell Molly."

Jim raised his eyebrows. "Neither am I. I just returned to life; I'm not near suicidal enough to confront her with what our son has been up to right now."

"Good." Forge dug out a flask from the depth of his drawer, and two glasses. He poured the golden liquid and handed one to Jim, who took it with a half-smile. "Cheers."

Jim sipped at the liquid, surprised to find it wasn't alcohol.

"You think I'd be drinking on the job?" Forge teased. "This is something Berto came up with. Tastes good and looks like the real thing. Doesn't have the same effects in the end."

McGrath nursed his drink. "My compliments."

"You think he'll try again?"

"No."

Forge gave him a 'go on, explain the one-worded answer so I can follow' look.

"Steel," Jim added.

"Ah." Forge nodded.

Because Jim knew his former partner and he had seen how intensely protective he was of his current and only future host. Steel had stood by and let Max do this once, but he wouldn't do it again. Jim had never suffered an overload, but he had been catching up on everything that had happened since he had been gone, specifically the two years after his son and the Ultralink had partnered up to become Max Steel. He had talked to Steel, who had rather reluctantly given him the details of some encounters they had had with Makino, and Jim knew.

He knew it had been a one-time event.

Thankfully.

Forge topped up his drink again and the two men shared the silent office, comfortable with the silence, not needing too many words.

tbc...


	15. Chapter 15

Ven-Ghan returned a month after Max's failed experiment. From one day to the next Ven-Ghan had been gone from the base, from Earth, probably even the galaxy. He had said nothing about where he would go when he had left, what he was about to do, whether it concerned Max Steel or something related to them.

"Probably out hunting Ultralinks," Steel muttered when he caught Max's thoughts.

"It is his job," his host reminded him.

"Yeah, well…"

"And you're no longer on his list, right?"

"There's that."

Max grinned. "Yep, there's that. You're officially rehabilitated, on our side, the good guy, and that particular list goes on."

Ven-Ghan walked away from where he had landed the Ven-Geance, completely unconcerned by the N-Tek personnel everywhere, some of them shooting him quick looks. Despite the numerous alien encounters, including close-up with Ven-Ghan himself, they were still curious. His ship needed no maintenance or refueling. It would sit in the hangar bad and stay there until needed. Unauthorized access was impossible, not that anyone would actually try.

"Welcome back," Max said brightly.

"How was your flight? Any good in-flight movies? Atrocious food or gourmet first class?" Steel added, undaunted by the other's severe stance and looks. "Oh, and did they have those little amenity kits? I love me one of these!"

It got him that well-known blank stare. Yes, the helmet prevented anyone from seeing any real facial expressions, but the body language was very clear.

"Uneventful," was the wry reply.

"Caught anything?" Steel probed, floating near the hunter.

"Nothing that concerns you, Ultralink."

"Steel. The name is Steel. Can you believe the guy?" He turned to look at Max, gesturing with exaggeration. "Away for a month and gone is his memory. Boom! How sad." He whirled back on Ven-Ghan and poked toward his head without touching him. "Did you get hit in the head? Did something fall on you? Did you get Obliviated? Or Neuralyzed? Did anyone tell you to 'Look right here'?"

The Kadounnian shifted a little, without actually moving away, and Steel made a little eeping sound. He zipped back to Max, behind his shoulder, glaring at Ven-Ghan.

::You do know he can probably neutralize you:: Max remarked casually.

::Yeah, well, he wouldn't dare!::

Max grinned. ::He just might::

Steel grumbled and kept Max between himself and Ven-Ghan, even though the hunter showed no inclination to interact with Steel again.

They walked along the corridor leading from the hangar bay to the base itself. Ven-Ghan glanced around, probably scanning for anything amiss or out of the ordinary, something that might warrant heightened vigilance, but nothing stood out. Aside from a run-in with Toxzon and a little tussle with a few goons from Extroyer, there had been no serious encounters or threats. Nothing had invaded the base, nothing had tried to break out, and nothing from the labs, especially Berto's, had blown up.

"Mk'rah informed me of your progress in training," the Kadounnian said as they headed for the main control room where Forge was probably waiting for them.

"Uh, okay?"

Ven-Ghan looked at him. "He also mentioned your ill-advised attempt to control your energy output without the Ultralink."

Max stopped abruptly, mouth hanging open, shock racing through his system. "Dad knows?!" he blurted.

"He would not have told me if he didn't know."

Steel cleared his non-existent throat. "Uh, how?"

Max was trying to work through the hot embarrassment and cold panic alternating through his mind. His dad knew! He had known for a while now and not confronted his son with that knowledge!

How?!

"I do not know how."

"But he told you!"

"Yes, he did. As your guardian and teacher, I would have to know."

Max raked his fingers through his hair, the brown strands messy and standing up in every direction. Steel poked at one and flattened it a little again.

"It was ill-advised," Ven-Ghan repeated. "It was also not what I suggested you two would have to train. I believe I said that you have to work on channeling your power with your conduit, not without him."

"Yeah, well, Max has a tendency to not listen," Steel quipped. It got him a sharp look and he huffed at the alien warrior. "Hey, I tried to stop him!"

Ven-Ghan hummed.

"Really! I'm the reasonable one here! I'm actually the sane one, too!"

Max laughed faintly. "That he is."

"Why, thank you!"

"It doesn't matter," Ven-Ghan said evenly. "You didn't stop your host, Ultralink. You were involved."

"Way to lay blame here," Steel muttered. "Like I could stop the guy when he has his hard head set on something."

"You are his partner."

"And that means what?" he challenged.

"You protect and defend him."

"Hey!" Steel was now right in Ven-Ghan's face, eye narrowed, looking fierce. "I do protect him! I would never let Max get hurt on my watch if I can help it!"

"Yet you let him overload."

"Because. He. Asked. Me. Not. To. Interfere."

"That is not protection."

Energy crackled around Steel's hands. "You wanna go a few rounds, Ven-Ghan, hm? You wanna? I'm all for it!"

"Guys!" Max interrupted, a warning in his voice.

Both looked at him.

"It was my idea, Ven-Ghan, and I asked Steel not to intervene. It was a request, not an order. I wanted to know if I could do this alone."

"You can't," the other stated coolly. "It is a well-known fact."

"Yeah, well, I wanted to know," Max simply repeated. "And now I do. End of story. We can go back to where you kick my ass and I try to find a way to finally kick back."

The electronic hum coming from the mask could be interpreted as amusement.

xXxXxX

When they parted ways outside the meeting room where Forge was already waiting for Ven-Ghan, Max felt his thoughts returned to the prior revelation.

"My dad knows," he groaned and shook his head.

Steel shrugged. "So what?"

"So what?!"

"Yeah. He has known for a while and he hasn't sent you to your room early or given you detention."

"One, I'm not five anymore. Two, he's not my teacher or the principal!"

"He also didn't bench you."

"Again, not my boss, Steel!"

"Just your dad. Greatest hero of the known universe."

Max groaned again. "He didn't even hint at him knowing!"

"Maybe you should ask?" Steel prodded. "Just… well… an idea, y'know."

"Maybe."

xXxXxX

But he didn't.

Not right away.

Because Max wasn't looking forward seeing the disappointment in the great Ja'em Mk'rah's face.

::Your dad won't be disappointed:: Steel told him, hovering in front of him, looking Max straight in the eyes. ::He's your dad::

::And you're eavesdropping::

::Well, sue me for being hard-wired into your brain:: he snarked. ::You think loudly, my friend!::

Max smiled a little and Steel leaned on his shoulder.

::But seriously. He's your dad, right? He didn't read you the riot act when he found out. He talked about it with an alien bounty hunter, sure, but he didn't yell at you::

"Yeah," Max muttered.

"And he's your dad."

"I know."

"Your. Dad."

"I. Know."

"Returned from the dead Dad."

"Steel…"

His partner poked him pointedly. "Family."

Max flopped back on his bed and Steel continued to be right in his line of sight. "Okay, okay, I'll talk to him!" he finally said.

"Good!" was the bright reply and Steel zipped over to the TV, running through the channels until he settled on some reality show with aspiring wanna-be models and a lot of over-acting.

Max just rolled his eyes.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Max found his father in Copper Canyon. More precisely: a small ice cream shop off the main shopping street, eating what looked like ten thousand calories all wrapped up in chocolatey goodness, topped with whipped cream and sprinkles. The shop wasn't with a chain and it only had a select few flavors. The more exotic ones were according to what the owner family had found at the markets, so it was sometimes an adventure to see what was currently offered.

Jim had just left the little hole in the wall and was carrying the ice cream cone over to the wooden bench near some trees when he discovered Max. He waved and Max waved back as he quickly got himself his own ice cream, three scoops in a waffle cone.

Jim raised an eyebrow at the small tower that Max was attacking with a spoon, the sprinkles slowly sliding down the side as it melted.

"Too good to waste on just one scoop," Max mumbled. "Even if they have a million calories. Betty never makes anything that is fat free or reduced."

"Like you would gain an ounce," Steel muttered from the backpack. "Your metabolism is outrageous. Actually, both of you have that freaky digestive system."

Jim chuckled. "Takonian. We process Earth foods faster."

"Explains my teenage years."

"You sound like you're well into your eighties," came the backseat comment.

"I always ate a lot, even compared to Forge. Still do." His father grinned. "I think the mess hall is currently running a pool on who can eat more: me or Jefferson."

"Not placing any bets there," Max laughed. "I've known the guy for a while now. He is a bottomless pit. Just ask Kat."

Jim nodded. "I did. She painted a gruesome picture. If I ever take him up on a contest, I'd have to deplete myself of T.U.R.B.O. energy first. Regeneration usually makes me very hungry. I think you know that feeling."

"Uh, yeah, well, in a fight I hardly notice."

"In a fight the suit keeps you balanced. Steel is the dampener, the conduit, and he can keep you running. Without him, an energy surge like you would have when nearly going critical, would probably have you raid every hamburger joint in the area."

Jim raised an eyebrow, eating more of his ice cream.

Max suddenly concentrated hard on his own cone. Steel peeked out of the backpack, frowning.

::Is he a mind-reader?:: he sent curiously. ::I mean, did he just give you the perfect opening or what? Not that he's wrong about your eating habits once the fight's over. You just never carry it along into the cockpit or the situation room like a certain someone::

::

"I heard Ven-Ghan returned," Jim continued, seeming oblivious to the sudden change in his son's behavior and the silent conversation, but Max wasn't fooled.

"Yeah. A few days ago. He and Uncle Ferrus are talking about… whatever. I thought you'd be there as well."

He shrugged. "I was. Just not in person. Ven-Ghan keeps me updated, just like I call him when it's something that concerns our working together."

Jim raised his eyebrows, a silent prompt.

Max sighed. "You know, and you know that I know."

"Smooth," Steel muttered. "Real smooth with the words, Max."

Jim smiled at his former partner, then looked back at Max. "Yes, I know."

"Mom?"

"We talked about it. I took her out to dinner to lessen the outburst."

Max grimaced. "Oh. How come I'm not grounded?"

His father laughed. "Max, you're nearly twenty. I think it's way past that time where we ground you. I also think it was a one-time event. Steel was there to stop you from blowing up. I trust in him not to let you harm yourself."

"Of course not!" the Ultralink blurted.

Jim inclined his head. "Exactly. Steel would override any command of yours to stay away the moment you reach critical. Not just because you are his power source, Max, but because he is your symbiont."

Max nodded silently, feeling the pressure of Steel's nearness through the link. It was that particular protective streak, this intensity in their connection, that once again drove home that Steel wouldn't just stand by and let him die.

"And now you know it's not possible to control your energy without him, or to extend the time before you go critical. It's in your genes, son. There is nothing you can do about it."

Max shrugged, not meeting the older McGrath's eyes.

Jim placed a calm hand on his son's shoulder, squeezing gently. "No one is perfect. And I told you before, you were always flying without an instruction manual. You had to constantly adjust, learn what you could do and what was still possible, and you managed to incredibly well. This… I kind of expected it. But together you can work on new Modes and on becoming faster, stronger, implementing new weapons and using what's at your disposal. Both of you have limits."

"Yeah."

"Max, you're an amazing young man. You have an incredible power inside you. You can't control it and it would kill you, but you're not alone. I was a lot less capable, even with Steel."

Max looked at him.

Jim grinned. "Hey, I'm only Takonian. You are of both worlds, and you have ultralinked. Nothing can com ebetween you two. You have so much more to discover about yourself, about what you can do. I have the experience, but you have the potential."

"Yeah, maybe."

"Definitely."

"You got a list of Modes Steel still hasn't unlocked?"

"There is no list, only what he and I managed together. You have more, Max. A lot more. You are partners and that means you work together."

"Told you!" Steel crowed.

"Shuddup."

It didn't stop the cheering noises from the backpack.

Jim chuckled and finished his almost molten ice cream, wiping his fingers on a napkin. Max had already finished his, feeling so much better from just the sweetness alone. Well, and openly talking to his father; knowing his mother knew as well.

"Got any plans?" Jim asked.

"Uh, no?"

xXxXxX

They returned home before nightfall, after spending the day going to a movie, talking over too much fast food, and generally having a father-son day that wasn't interrupted by any N-Tek matters. Or non-N-Tek matters.

It felt good.

Almost normal.

Steel hummed a little, giving him knowing looks as he moved around Max's room, which was by now only for the occasional sleep-over when he wasn't at the base, where he had his own place.

"Oh shuddup," Max only muttered again.

Steel's smirk was unbecoming, but he wasn't commenting it either verbally or mentally.

They linked for the night, Max deciding to deep-link just the comfort of it.

::You know Jim was right::

::Hm::

::Dads usually are::

::Is that so? How come you know?::

The cyber-rendering of Steel shrugged. ::I just know::

Max chuckled and yawned.

Yes, it had done him a world of good to talk, to get this out in the open, be done with it.

With that he slipped off to sleep.

tbc...


	16. Chapter 16

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Well, I think I'm getting cloer to the end, with maybe one or two chapters left... Depending on work and Real Life, I might be done by this weekend... or not :)

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Max spent the next day catching up with Kirby, who was surprisingly good at his internship and really wanted to work at THI after college. His Mom had mentioned it a few times. Kirby was very much involved in whatever they had him do, though he loved filing for some reason. THI's filing system was both electronic and on paper, and getting all the old paper files digitalized was a lot of work.

Kirby was all for it. He spent hours sorting through tons of photos, books and single sheets of paper of all sizes and in all conditions, and he made a digital file. His supervisors were extremely taken by the young man.

::As long as you don't give him something that can explode…:: Steel joked.

Max grinned. Yeah, well, you probably shouldn't, but when Kirby applied himself to something, he was really good at it.

They went for a very unhealthy snack stop at the local burger joint, then headed to the arcades where Kirby had his eyes set on winning a rather ugly, green stuffed toy that was supposedly a bunny but looked like… anything but a bunny to Max.

Sydney had called him just this morning and they had talked for almost two hours. It felt good to have someone outside N-Tek and his family. Sydney was very interested in the latest events, the developments, about how he and Steel had been and currently were.

"Wow," had been her soft comment when Max had told her about his attempts of controlling his powers. "You know, I knew you were crazy, but that crazy?"

"I know, right!" Steel had piped in immediately, voice rising like a teenage girl's while gossiping with a bestie. "He is sooo inconsiderate! And so thoughtless!"

It had gotten him a laugh and Sydney had extracted a promise from Max: not to do it again.

Of course he wouldn't do it again!

"She's flying in next weekend," Kirby interrupted his thoughts. "And she'll stay for two whole weeks! Cool!"

Yes, it would be cool.

Max planned on spending as much time with Syd and Kirby as possible. He had missed it lately, though the phone calls and video chats had helped.

xXxXxX

Kirby finally won the really ugly toy, after sinking enough money into the game to buy at least three of them in a normal toy store.

Steel mentioned as much, too.

Yeah, well, that was Kirby for you.

They got themselves large chocolate shakes and headed home. Max dropped his friend off, Kirby carrying the greenish bunny-thing, and he shook his head, grinning.

"So, where to?" Steel asked, popping out of the backpack.

"Fancy a flight? Easy patrol?"

"Sure thing!"

Max Steel took off no ten minutes later.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

It took Ven-Ghan playing really dirty that things started to get more intense. It was one of those revelations that had Max want to just hole up in a convenient cave and never come out again.

While the Skewer was Ven-Ghan's weapon of choice in the training – it was still their objective to evade getting cut or stabbed – he wasn't against throwing in a few of his own weapons. Like the sword-like energy weapon that he had used repeatedly in the past, mainly to separate an Ultralink from their host. It had worked on Kirby and Sydney, as well as Uncle Ferrus, just fine, drawing a very combative and unwilling Ultralink off their kidnapped host. With Max, things turned from weird to painful within a second when Steel didn't separate.

Actually, his symbiont gave a cry of pain and Max clapped his hands over his chest where Steel resided, curling protectively around the area as Ven-Ghan tried to extricate him. In the past encounters Steel had been torn off within a few seconds, without an effort on the hunter's part. Now it was a struggle, was suddenly pure agony and not the slightly disconcerting disconnection of before. Max felt like his very soul was split in two, that a vital part of him was about to disappear forever.

No.

He wouldn't... couldn't… let that happen.

Ven-Ghan turned the power up a notch.

No! No, please, no!

It was too much.

Yet the power of the pull increased.

Max screamed, echoed by Steel.

"NO!"

And the Takion energy exploded out of him as if Steel wasn't there to put a lid on his uncontrolled power. His whole body lit up a bright blue, his human shape a dark mass at the center, and his eyes whited out. Tiny bubbles of Takion energy burst forth, interspersed by bright flames licking all over his body. He was now pure energy, not unlike those moments when he had come close to blowing himself apart, but it felt different. Steel was still there, channeling it all instead of dampening the effects, and Max's cry of denial unleashed the explosion. It pushed the hapless Kadounnian clear across the room, and the alarms of the training room went off.

Max fell to his knees, still enveloped in blue flames; still representing as a humanoid shape that seemed to consist of energy and nothing else. One hand touched the ground, crackling loudly, sparks flying off, the other clenched over his chest.

::Steel?!::

::Here:: came the shaky reply. ::What…? How did you…? Why are we… like this?! Why are you in your pure energy state?::

The Ultralink was still firmly and safely attached, not a single point of contact loosened or removed. Max was still panting, on his knees, hunched over. There were faint rivulets of pain coming from where Ven-Ghan's weapon had bitten into the suit, but it was manageable.

::It didn't work:: Steel murmured. ::How couldn't it work? I felt him try and it hurt and it didn't work… It's like I'm stuck!::

::But you're okay?!:: Max demanded, eyes licking fire.

::Uh, still here, so yeah, I'm more than okay::

Max screwed his eyes shut and drew a deep, deep breath. And again.

This wasn't… normal. He shouldn't be like this… Steel dampened his powers and kept him human… But right now he felt anything but human, and he hurt.

Faintly.

The T.U.R.B.O. energy was finally quieting down and as Steel regained a semblance of control, he finally reshaped himself into the Base Mode.

He felt extremely sore.

Especially where Steel sat.

"Max Steel."

Okay, so Ven-Ghan was a resilient s.o.b and he was already back on his feet, looming over the hurting team. Then again, the guy had wormhole teleportation down to an art. The way he created them and moved through the portals was incredible. It got him out of tight spots and this, right now, just a minute ago, had been a hell of a tight spot. He had a few superficial scrapes, dark smudges against the gray-green skin, and a burn pattern over the chest area of his armor. There were no open, bleeding wounds, no visibly broken bones, so Max breathed a silent thanks of relief.

"Is your symbiont hurt?" Ven-Ghan asked pragmatically, though there was a hint of worry.

Max had had to learn how to hear the nuances in the other's voice, which was distorted through the helmet's speakers, but he was sure he had the basics now.

And Ven-Ghan was worried.

::Steel?::

"I'm fine, no thanks to you!" the symbiont in question snapped. With a crackle of energy Steel detached and hovered in front of the hunter, stabbing a hand at him. "What was that, hm? What were you trying to do, Ven-Ghan? Slice and dice me into bite-sized pieces?"

The alien cocked his head. "As the humans would say, I upped the ante."

"You tried to tear us apart, that's what it was!" Steel growled. "Not cool! Not cool at all!"

"Your enemies aren't cool, symbiont. It also proves my theory about your evolution."

Steel drew back, eye wide. "Evo… What?!"

Max got to his feet, just a little off-balance. His energy was under control, he looked human again, in Base Mode, but the sensation was weird all over. This had thrown him. Badly. He had never reacted this violently before.

"Evolution?" he echoed.

"You and the Ultralink Steel have come a lot farther in your partnership than I or the Black Star Council could have predicted. For the Council, Steel was a rogue Ultralink who had, in the end, killed its first host, Jim McGrath. That is who I came to hunt. I found the two of you working together and trusting each other. You, Maxwell, went out of your way to retrieve the Ultralink. Back then I suspected it was because he was the one who kept the energy you generate under control. You needed him to live and the parasite was using this as what you might call blackmail."

Steel made an outraged noise. Ven-Ghan held up a hand.

"I learned that it was more than that. I learned that you are as independent as you would be without an Ultralink parasite. You are not a Link Slave toy."

Even though it was a friend saying the words, Max bristled, like he did every single time the words Link Slave were said to him; describing them. Ven-Ghan, despite missing all facial features thanks to the helmet, seemed to smile.

"Since our first meeting, I have studied the both of you. You evolved from a partnership of necessity to one based on a solid friendship. Training you showed me how deep this relationship is going already. I decided to… test you, and it proved how close you are and how inseparable you have become. My weapon is designed to cut the ties between parasite and Link Slave. It's ineffective against you." He inclined his head.

"Uh," Max murmured, stunned by the so reasonably delivered report. "I…ah…"

"The Ultralink is fused to your armor. Your armor is part of you, Max McGrath. It is your physical form's skin. Unless he wants to separate, not even my weapon can extricate him anymore. You are one in all that matters."

"I… wh… what?" Steel stammered, eye wide. "Are you crazy? This sounds crazy! Right, Max? Crazy! Loopy! Wonky!"

Max felt pole-axed. The past had shown them how easily anyone could tear Steel off the armor. Dredd had done it. Makino had done it. And Ven-Ghan had used his weapon, yeah. Then there had been the occasional 'percussion separation', as Steel jokingly called it, when Max was thrown into a wall or another hard object, jolting Steel from him.

It had never hurt like it had now. And it had always been a weak spot of sorts. While it didn't harm Max or Steel, it locked Max in the current mode, which sometimes wasn't the most useful one in a continued confrontation. And if that was Camouflage, it was absolutely the worst in a fight.

But now…

He couldn't… they wouldn't…?

His head was starting to hurt.

::Max? Max!:: Steel yelled over the link and he blinked. "Say something!" the Ultralink added out loud.

"Something," he muttered.

"Okay, it's official. You broke him!" his partner accused Ven-Ghan, waving a hand at the other alien. "And what are you talking about anyway? Ultralinks can't fuse to a host. Makino might have liked that for some, but it's inefficient for a parasite!"

 _Which you are not!_ Max thought fiercely. It went straight toward his partner, because Steel shot him a quick look.

::And it makes sense for a symbiotic relationship:: the host in question added with a direct address to his partner.

::I was never designed to be a symbiont, Max:: Steel reminded him. ::My designation was a parasitic warrior. Nothing in my code or my hardware should enable me to do this:: He stopped, then hummed thoughtfully. ::Unless it's you…::

::What?::

::You're the host. You might be the one keeping me locked down::

::I… I wouldn't…:: Max stammered, staring at the Ultralink. ::I wouldn't lock you down in the SteelSuit!::

::Well, it's not bad. It kinda keeps me... and us… safe, but…:: Steel rounded on Ven-Ghan. He had been silent so far, aware of the silent discussion. It was hard to miss with the expressions exchanged. "Ultralinks can always separate and be separated!" the bio-mech said out loud, glaring at Ven-Ghan. "It's simple survival for us and a weak spot in one! Achilles' Heel et cetera. Don't you think Makino would have come up with some super-duper Ultralink design to permanently take over possibly important figures and make them his Link Slaves?! Even if it's the suit, it's me anyway. I created the suit for Max. I'm not that unique. Other Ultralinks create armor, too!"

"Other Ultralinks are parasites that possess an unwilling host, Steel," Max reminded him.

The Kadounnian ignored the words. "Our training ends here. For today. I will set up a new schedule," was all the he said, then he turned and left them alone.

"Oi!" Steel protested loudly. "That's not helping! You owe us answers, Ven-Ghan! A metric ton of them! Hey, are you listening?!"

He wasn't. And if he was, he kept on ignoring the words. Ven-Ghan just disappeared as the door closed behind them. Steel bobbed angrily in place.

"The nerve!" he exclaimed. "Can you believe it? Can you?!"

Max sank down the wall and leaned back his head with a soft thud. Steel stopped his tirade and worriedly came closer, rubbing his hands. Gone was the fury, replaced by something neither rarely ever talked about.

"You okay?" he finally asked, voice soft.

"I think so?" Max rubbed over his chest again. "A little bruised. And I feel both drained and reenergized in one. You?"

"I think I'm okay," Steel echoed, looking inward, checking his systems. "This… I'm not sure what to think," he finally confessed.

Max gave a little laugh. "Neither am I, buddy. He's not a man of many words, but when he drops a bomb, he drops a bomb." He placed a hand over his chest, the very place Steel connected to, and a faint ache spread through him once more. Blue energy briefly licked over his fingers.

"Whoa," Steel murmured.

The discomfort was more like a memory of what had just happened, but he felt it nonetheless.

His partner came closer, one hand resting over Max's. They were wide open to one another and Max knew it had shocked the bio-organic as much as him. Neither had expected any of this to happen, but in a way Max was glad Steel couldn't be taken from him with ease ever again. Too many had tried, some with success, and it hadn't been pretty for either of them in turns. Steel's memories of his torture at Makino's hands came to mind.

The symbiont shuddered and Max automatically gathered him into his arms, holding him tightly. He lowered his head and closed his eyes, sinking a little closer to Steel.

::I thought I was going to lose you:: he whispered. ::All I could think of was that it couldn't happen, that I could never let this happen again. At all::

::With you, bro. All the way:: was the rough reply.

tbc...


	17. Chapter 17

It caught Max a little bit by surprise that his parents decided to go on vacation. For two weeks! Two whole weeks! His mother hadn't been away from her job since taking over THI, and even before that there had been just weekend trips.

"Uh, where?" was all he managed, flabbergasted.

His father held up a brochure. It had a cruise ship of enormous proportions on it. "One week on a ship, one on a beach," he simply said.

"Beach. You. And Mom. Wow…"

Steel plucked the brochure out of Jim's hands and scanned over the photos and text. "Unparalleled freedom at sea. Premium all inclusive. It's not just any cruise," he read out loud. "The future of fun. That sounds like fun! When do we go?"

Jim chuckled. "We, that is: my wife and I, are going the day after tomorrow."

The Ultralink gave a good impression of a pout. "Without your old partner?"

"Without my old partner, who is now my son's symbiont and will stay here with him."

"Can you believe it?" Steel exclaimed, zipping over to Max. "They're going on the ultimate fun cruise with the platinum all inclusive package, and we're not invited!"

Max grinned. "Oh yeah, I can believe it. Have fun."

"Oh, we will," Molly replied, looking rather excited.

Max grimaced at the clearly suggestive tone, and groaned when his father winked at her. Steel just mumbled to himself, glaring at the brochure.

::Lighten up:: he told his partner. ::It's their time off. Their alone time. Away from all the crazy stuff::

::They could at least have asked:: came the petulant reply. ::So I could have said no::

::You sound like a five year old. You also would have said yes::

Steel shot him a half-hearted glare, then dropped the brochure, and with it the subject.

XxXx

Two days later they were on their way and Max was left with a place all to himself, which was neat all by itself.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Max took up Forge's offer for a talk with some drinks a few days later.

At a diner the next town over, which made a mean burger and a very rich, flavorful milkshake. His uncle got one of those, too. The extra-large version.

"What?" he asked with a grin. "Not like I won't work it off."

Max grinned and sipped at his own. "Yeah. Like Jefferson. The man eats like a machine."

"Look who's talking?"

Max glanced at the empty plate. He had decimated the food in no time flat. And yes, his body metabolized food rather quickly. Steel claimed the suit would keep him alive even without food, but food was yummy and he liked eating it. He loved fast food and junk stuff, too. It didn't go anywhere, simply converted into energy completely, so that was a bonus for being stuck in the SteelSuit for life.

Forge ordered a large coffee, black, and Max stuck to his shake as they talked about what had happened throughout the latest training. They were sitting in the far end booth, private, no one listening in, and Max felt more at ease out here than the base.

His uncle listened, face serious, eyes on his nephew, fully concentrating on the younger man. He asked a few brief, to the point questions. It was where the Commander in Chief shone through, but he wasn't here in that capacity.

So Forge let him talk.

Steel sat in the backpack, docile, barely commenting, letting his host get everything off his chest. Max felt him with him, glad for his support, glad for everything the symbiont had done for him in the past. In the recent past, but also throughout their partnership.

XxXx

As they walked to the car, Forge carrying a doggy bag filled with brownies, muffins and cookies for Jefferson, Kat and Berto, Max shot his uncle a smile.

"Thanks, Uncle Ferrus."

"Hey, none of that, kid. I'm here for you, always have been. I know we had our differences about what is need to know for you and what isn't." He smirked and Max rolled his eyes. "But I'm family. You're family. Never forget that. Goes for you, too, Steel."

The Ultralink peeked out of the backpack's open zipper. "Wow, Commander, I'm touched! I'd kiss you if I had a mouth!"

"Yeah, well, I'm glad you don't have one. You talk too much anyway."

"I love you, too, Uncle Forge!" Steel exclaimed.

Forge glared at the single eye and Steel slipped deeper into the backpack.

"Sir," he mumbled.

"Better. Now, about your future." Forge gestured at Max to get into the car.

"Yes?"

"Molly and I talked about your so-called college career. The N-Tek funded one."

"The cover story."

His uncle shrugged his broad shoulders. "Call it what you want, but you're getting a solid education, Max. Every soldier has one and while I hate to define your status as a soldier, you are one of my men. You're our best weapon against some of the weird shit that's been coming our way."

Max nodded.

"Molly, Jim and I drew up a study plan for you. Aside from regular training, you get to hit the books."

Max sighed. "Fun."

He had finished high school with a good grade, though never among the top or with the best of his year. Fighting bad guys and saving the world had been bad on his grades, but overall he had passed, which was the most important bit. Max knew his life wouldn't and couldn't change; he was part of N-Tek and would always be. His family had founded the organization.

"Probably." Forge chuckled and turned the car to head into Copper Canyon. "You'll be learning hands-on, not just books. Ven-Ghan volunteered to help out in some areas."

Max groaned softly. "More ass-kicking."

Steel echoed the groan. "I just got the last repairs done!"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

They were getting better.

Max had to fight against the surge of protective instinct and the memories of what had happened whenever someone or something hit too close to where Steel was firmly anchored to him. Nothing had ever happened to the Ultralink in the past, but the memories, the nightmares, were too real.

Steel himself was no better, but he was working through it his own way, not hindered by human emotions, despite being linked to a human-Takonian hybrid.

It was this more detached way, how he viewed matters, that helped Max in turn. Steel knew they were stronger now, that nothing could separate them, and that knowledge was enough for him to go into a battle without doubt.

Max adopted that state-of-mind after a while.

It got him an appreciative nod from Ven-Ghan, which almost felt like a pat on the head.

So when they went after two rogue Ultralinks that had come out of hiding, terrorizing the neighborhood, Max Steel was back one hundred percent.

They fought together like one unit, shifting between Modes fluidly, using only a fraction of a second, and deep-linking was becoming second-nature. It gave them faster communication, combining reflexes, knowledge and skill of both partners in way no one could have foreseen.

The Chief was watching it with a frown and a smile in one. Forge was proud of his nephew, for how much he had achieved, was still achieving, and how quickly he had adapted to what life had thrown his way. On the other side he was wary of this new connection. Ultralinks were capable of so much, and Steel was unlike any of his brethren. He would never consciously hurt Max, but unconsciously?

Forge had long since conquered the fear that any kind of malevolent programming might break free and turn the bio-organic being back into the evil version, but a niggle of worry remained.

"They'll be okay, Forge," Jim said calmly, joining him in watching yet another training session in Berto's Danger-Room, as Max had dubbed it with a grin. "Steel would never do anything to hurt my son. Ever. He'd rather tear his own circuits out."

Forge briefly glanced at him. Jim and Molly had come back three days ago, sun-tanned and relaxed, handing out extremely tacky, cringe-worthy souvenirs, and it an absolutely good mood. The gifts had been a bet between Molly and Forge: find the worst and mostly cheaply made souvenir and give one to everyone of their team.

They had.

And they were so ugly and loud, it was almost painful to look them for too long.

"I know, Jim. And he's suffered as much as the next soldier under my command. Old habits, I suppose."

The Takonian chuckled. "Yes, maybe." He grew serious. "I saw my world fall under their attack. I witnessed what they could do. I also found that not all are evil. One Ultralink who turned against Makino was enough for me to believe we could win one day. Steel and I have fought together for a long time, but he never opened up to me as he did to Max. And he grew exponentially. Both of them."

Forge nodded. "They're perfect for each other."

Jim smiled a little wistfully. "Not sure I would have wanted them to bond. Well, the me from eighteen years ago wouldn't have wished that upon a child. But Steel made the right decision when Max went out of control and instinct wasn't wrong."

In the simulation room the opponent was destroyed, falling to simulated pieces, and Max turned from Strength to Base Mode again, dusting off his hands. The wide grin was almost infectious. He was in perfect form and all readings told them just that. Berto looked a little miffed that his simulation had been beaten again, but he always took it as a challenge to come up with something better.

"They share a life now. For real."

The Commander nodded, arms crossed in front of his chest. "Forever."

"We'll make sure they can handle it," Jim added, his expression reflecting his decision to be there for his son, all the way.

Forge Ferrus knew he would be there for the kid, too. He loved Max like his own son, would always love him that way, even after the presumed-dead father had returned.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Close to eight months had passed since the fateful encounter with Deg'ne-rok. Max was busy with his new N-Tek academy life, living by a tightly woven schedule. He was learning a ton of stuff about engineering, cybernetics and mechanics, as well as politics, both alien and human. Some of it was mind-numbingly boring, other things were exciting and he easily grasped the concept. Even Berto was surprised how well he picked up certain aspects.

There were also lessons on how to handle all of N-Tek's machines and weapons. While he and Steel could adapt easily to a new situation, make any vehicle their own, both Jim and Uncle Ferrus insisted he learn to drive and fly the regular way.

It was fun. Scary fun, sometimes.

Battle training was as before. His dad was around more, using his own Takonian battle suit to train with Max and Steel. Ven-Ghan kept coming at him with the Skewer in new and more inventive ways, giving Max something to sweat about.

But the nightmares and the moments of panic when seeing the weapon had passed.

Steel hovered at his side as Max sat on top of his apartment building, the roof quiet and high enough to make it a remote place to be. He liked the quiet now and then. It calmed him, especially his mind, and he sometimes spent an hour or two on his back and gazing at the night sky.

There was a whoosh of purplish light and he sat up as Ven-Ghan stepped out of one of his portals.

"Hey, Ven-Ghan," he greeted him.

The hunter briefly scanned the area, then nodded his greeting. "Max. Steel."

"What brings you here?" Steel asked curiously. "Is it time to kick our asses again?"

Max grinned and shook his head in amusement. Ven-Ghan simply ignored the words, as he so often did.

"Deg'ne-rok has been found and arrested."

"Really?!" Steel zipped closer. "You caught the freak? Now what? He's thrown in the deepest, darkest hole you can find and we lose the key?"

Ven-Ghan looked unimpressed, even with the featureless helmet hiding his face. "The Tribunal will take care of his sentence."

"Huh. One down and how many will come next?" Max asked.

Ven-Ghan sat down next to him. "There might always be one or another."

"How comforting."

It got him a slight head-tilt. "You will be ready."

"Yeah, well… thanks to you training me, I guess. I learned a lot."

"That is the objective."

"I just wish we didn't always have to look over our shoulders," Max added softly. "It's… I mean, Makino's gone. We get a few Ultralinks now and then, the usual bad guys, but Deg'ne-rok was different."

Ven-Ghan watched him, not moving a muscle. "You are a warrior, Max Steel," he finally said. "You are the guardian of this world, its protector. It is your life and you cannot change it anymore."

Yeah, Ven-Ghan wasn't one for sympathetic coddling and verbal hugs. In a way, Max needed that. He didn't need pity of sympathy; he needed someone to simply talk to.

"Like yourself?" he asked calmly.

The hunter nodded once. "I am your guardian."

Steel snorted. "Baby-sitter," he muttered, barely under his breath.

Ven-Ghan shifted his gaze to the Ultralink. Steel squirmed a little.

"I am not in charge of you," the hunter said, looking at Max again. "I would never presume to be. I am a guardian. It is my honor to share my knowledge and my training with you, as I have been taught by mentors."

Max smiled. "And I very much appreciate it. It's my honor, too."

"You are a fellow warrior and hunter, Max Steel. That is what we share. A warrior's bond. I will fight by your side."

Ven-Ghan held out a hand and Max clasped it. "Thanks. Really. For everything. Even if you sometimes fight dirty."

The other tilted his head a little, the smile invisible, but most likely there. "I teach the way it has to be done."

Steel snorted, crossing his arms.

There was a soft pinging and Max felt a smile bloom on his lips. "That's Sydney calling. Uh, mind if I take it?" he asked his companion.

Ven-Ghan inclined his head. "I will monitor the Tribunal's sentence," he simply said. "Remember we have an appointment tomorrow."

Steel rolled his eye. "Yes, mom."

Ven-Ghan teleported away without a comment.

Max picked up the call that Steel had kept waiting. "Hey, Syd!"

"Hi, Max. Bad time?"

"No, perfect time. So, how's college life?"

They fell into an easy conversation and the call lasted over an hour, with no awkward lull or an exchange of banalities.

"You still got it bad for her," Steel commented.

"We're friends, Steel. Friends talk."

"Uh-huh."

"Friends," Max insisted.

"Keep telling that to yourself."

"I also talk to Kirby."

"Not the same."

He rolled his eyes. "C'mon, let's go."

They took to the air, lazily gaining in height until Max cruised aimlessly over the Canyonlands that stretched seemingly endlessly behind Copper Canyon.

Steel was a silent, warm weight next to his own mind, the link open and flowing easily between them. No words were needed and he wouldn't be able to put what he felt when they were Max Steel into words. He had no idea what his life would be, what his future would be. He was incredibly young, nineteen going on twenty, and he had everything still before him.

He was Max McGrath and he was Max Steel.

He was a student and a special operative for N-Tek.

He was human and he was Takonian.

And he was also Steel.

Something shivered along the link, like an embrace, a confirmation.

Yes, they were one life. And he would enjoy it to the fullest, whatever their way would be, whoever they would encounter.

He had a family that kicked ass. His mom, his dad, his uncle. He had good friends who kicked as much ass. Kat, Jefferson, Ven-Ghan. He had good friends who weren't warriors and still had his back in a different way, whether they knew he was Max Steel or not. Sydney, Kirby, Butch.

And he had a symbiont who was his best friend.

::You're mine, too:: was the quiet reply.

Max twirled through air, smiling, clouds brushing him by. There was no way he could complain about his life, especially after meeting Steel. There had been ups and downs, there had been really bad days and fantastically good ones.

::Yep. Really good ones:: Steel commented, clearly listening in. ::Yeah, no:: came the immediate reply to those thoughts. ::You. Broadcasting. End of story::

Max chuckled and rose higher, smoothly switching to Rocket Mode when he broke the final barrier, leaving Earth's atmosphere behind.

Below him, Earth glowed a gentle white and blue, interspersed with brown and green. The times he had seen it like that had been far and few. Mostly he had been fighting against Makino and his Ultralinks, trying to keep him from destroying his home world.

Now…

"Looks beautiful," Steel murmured.

"Yeah."

And they would protect this. Against whatever came Earth's way, whatever wanted a piece of this, even if it was a resurrected Makino himself.

Steel groaned. "No. No, you can't say something like this. Or think about it! He's not coming back! Ever! He burned in the sun and it nothing charred bits, ashes to ashes, and so on!"

Max placed a hand over his chest where Steel sat, his mind calmingly reaching out to his symbiont.

"He won't be back," he said softly. ::Ever::

Steel shuddered a little, then pulled himself away from those thoughts.

Max cruised a little, enjoying the view, then slowly descended again.

Time to get back to N-Tek. Grab a bite to eat on the way, then see what was going on. Berto had been talking about a new simulation, some kind of new weapon he was experimenting with that was meant for Max and Steel to work.

::Sounds like fun::

Max grinned. Yep, it did. It always was.

"Okay then, off to Berto's it is."

XxXx

No one talked about how they blew up the simulation, and with it the new C.Y.T.R.O., way too early.

Or Berto's wide-eyed, slack-jawed expression.

Max just shrugged.

"Better luck next time!" Steel crowed, really pleased with how they had handled themselves against the rather tough and complicated simulation.

It had paid off training with Ven-Ghan.

"C'mon. Chocolate cake's on me," Max called.

Berto grumbled, but Max knew he couldn't resist chocolate cake.

And he didn't.

They were good. Not that Berto held a grudge, because every time Max managed to best one of his simulations, he was driven into building a better one. Just like he kept improving C.Y.T.R.O.

Max slung an arm over his friend's shoulders, Steel hovering next to them, and they headed for the cafeteria.

A call came in just as he was about to bite into his chocolate cake and Max sighed. Berto smirked.

"You go be a hero. I'll take care of your share."

And with that he bit into it.

Max rolled his eyes, already heading off to the hangar.

"Time to go T.U.R.B.O.?" Steel called excitedly.

"Yep, time to go T.U.R.B.O., buddy. Flight!"

And time for Max Steel to kick bad guy butt again.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

fin!

Thank you all for reading! It was quite a ride and I enjoyed my venture into this tiny fandom!

XxXxXxXxXxXx


End file.
